HYBE Interactive Media (HYBE IM), the gaming subdivision of South Korean music and leisure big HYBE, has introduced it’s raised a further KRW 30 billion (approx. USD $21 million) to speed up its recreation growth and publishing enterprise.
Half of the brand new capital got here from earlier investor IMM Funding, with Shinhan Enterprise Funding and Daesung Non-public Fairness becoming a member of as new traders.
The most recent spherical follows an $80 million increase final yr, led by Makers Fund with participation from IMM and dad or mum firm HYBE. Together with the newest spherical, HYBE IM says it has raised KRW 137.5 billion (approx. $100 million).
The brand new funding is supposed to reinforce the corporate’s publishing capabilities and speed up its long-term technique, HYBE IM stated in an announcement issued on Monday (March 31). Particularly, the cash will go in the direction of advertising and marketing, operations, and “localization methods to help the profitable launch and secure reside service” of HYBE IM’s recreation titles.
“This extra funding marks a pivotal second in strengthening HYBE IM’s world competitiveness in each recreation publishing and growth,” HYBE IM President Wooyong Chung stated.
The gaming enterprise is a part of a broader diversification technique at HYBE, which has included enlargement of its music enterprise into markets equivalent to the US and Latin America, in addition to enlargement into media past music.
That technique seems to be no less than partly a response to HYBE having reached the restrict of how far Ok-pop – and particularly the corporate’s flagship act BTS – can carry the corporate. With BTS on hiatus as its members full obligatory navy service, the Ok-pop giants now account for lower than 20% of HYBE’s revenues.
And in a 2023 interview, HYBE Co-Founder and Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk stated that “globally, [K-pop] shouldn’t be occupying a lot of the market.”
In creating its gaming enterprise, HYBE has harnessed the recognition of its Ok-pop acts, most notably BTS, round which the corporate developed BTS Island: Within the SEOM. HYBE’s musical cell recreation Rhythm Hive integrates quite a few acts from its labels, together with BTS, LE SSERAFIM, SEVENTEEN, and Tomorrow X Collectively.
“This extra funding marks a pivotal second in strengthening HYBE IM’s world competitiveness in each recreation publishing and growth.”
Wooyong Chung, HYBE IM
Nevertheless, Chung stresses that the corporate is transferring past integrations with its Ok-pop acts.
“We intention to evolve past IP-based gaming and turn out to be a next-generation writer delivering compelling content material to players worldwide,” he stated.
In 2022, HYBE acquired a stake in recreation developer Flint, maker of the favored Dragon Blaze recreation.
The next yr, HYBE and HYBE IM invested $21.8 million into South Korea-based developer Aqua Tree, following that up with a $1.45 million funding into South Korea’s Motion Sq. in 2024.
HYBE IM’s technique has additionally concerned publishing partnerships, for example with indie recreation developer Bonfire Studios, below which HYBE IM is the writer of the player-versus-player (PvP) recreation Arkheron in South Korea and Japan.
However maybe probably the most buzzworthy recreation up to now in HYBE IM’s roster is the upcoming massively multiplayer on-line role-playing recreation (MMORPG) Architect: Land of Exiles, developed by HYBE IM and the aforementioned Aqua Tree. The trailer for the sport landed final fall, prompting Gaming Bible to describe it as “The Witcher meets Last Fantasy.”
In a letter to shareholders final yr, HYBE CEO Jason Jaesang Lee stated gaming is “poised to play a vital function” in HYBE’s future leisure ventures.
“Though gaming followers and music followers could have totally different traits and pursuits, each realms are united by their very important connection to mental property and the communities that cherish and revel in it,” he stated.
“We consider that the experience HYBE has developed within the music fandom enterprise might be successfully tailored to the gaming trade as properly.”Music Enterprise Worldwide
