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Line launches games publishing division after NextFloor acquisition

NextFloor CEO Min Kyu Kim to head up new unit

Date Type Companies involved Size
July 10th, 2017 acquisition LINE Corporation Not disclosed
Line launches games publishing division after NextFloor acquisition

Mobile messaging firm Line Corporation has established a new South Korea-based games publishing division.

Called Line Games, the unit has been formed to bolster Line’s midcore games content. The company will roll out its operations to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and other markets across the world as it aims to grow its gaming business.

As part of the move Line has acquired a 51% stake in Korean developer NextFloor. The studio has worked on games such as Destiny Child and Dragon Flight, the latter of which had reached 24 million downloads as of January 31st 2017.

NextFloor CEO Min Kyu Kim will head up Line Games as its new chief exec. The new division will be based in the same office building as its newly acquired studio.

Expanding business

“Such game development and operational capabilities will be necessary to further evolve and expand Line’s gaming business, so we are excited to welcome NextFloor to the Line Group,” said Line Corporation CEO Takeshi Idezawa.

“The newly established Line Games Corporation will reinforce our development capacity, allowing us to provide more diverse content to users around the world.”

Line Games CEO Kim added: “Through this partnership, Line and NextFloor will strive to deliver games that can be enjoyed by users around the globe.

“We will do our best to provide differentiated services and a strong competitive edge that can make Line Games an attention-grabbing company.”


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.