SEOUL, KOREA- NHN Entertainment (formerly Hangame) ended the 13 years of cohabitation with Naver. NHN Entertainment plans to go for Asia, centering on smartphone games. The company held a media day event on August 29 at its new building “Play Museum” located in Pankyo Techno Valley on the southern outskirts of Seoul.
The game company said that it will continue to provide web board games such as go-stops and poker games under the Hangame brand. However, it will provide new mobile and computer games under the brand of Toast.
An NHN Entertainment official said, “The mobile game market has been growing at a remarkable pace with its annual average growth rate estimated at 67.9 percent since 2010. Given that we are living in a world where we can play game anywhere, we will place our priority on mobile games.”
To attack overseas market with mobile games, NHN Entertainment gave up on its Hangame brand. An NHN Entertainment official said, “Hangame has been known widely as a web board game brand. It is difficult for this brand to accommodate a variety of game genres. Moreover, it has a strong image as a Korean game. We, accordingly, will integrate our non-board game genres under new brand of Toast.”
