Nexon is launching a long-term investment program worth up to 250 billion won ($180 million) to secure promising intellectual property with global competitiveness. Partnering with the government and game-focused venture capital firms, the company aims to support innovation at new development studios from the startup stage, using it as a springboard to build what it calls an "open ecosystem."
According to IT industry sources on the 21st, Nexon Partners — a newly established subsidiary dedicated to investment — plans to confirm its first investment target during the second half of this year. Nexon Partners earlier formed the "Kona Global IP Investment Partnership," a 120 billion won strategic fund, together with game-focused venture capital firm Kona Venture Partners.
Kona Venture Partners is the only independent game-focused venture capital firm in South Korea, led by CEO Choi Hwa-jin, who has more than 25 years of experience in venture capital. Choi is regarded as a veteran who has run strategic investment cooperation funds with major game companies such as Krafton, Kakao Games, Netmarble and Tencent. The fund combines 60 billion won from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's IP account mother fund, and is expected to create a strategic leverage effect roughly twice the size of Nexon's direct contribution.
The investment targets span Nexon's core future business models as a whole, including new IP capable of global expansion, next-generation live-service games built on user acquisition marketing, and innovative development studios incorporating artificial intelligence technology.
Partner companies with proven potential will receive bold funding. Nexon will directly inject large-scale scale-up capital at the right moment when startups need explosive growth funding — such as around closed beta testing, when they move beyond the early stage into global live services and large-scale marketing. The strategy is to financially back development studios so they can grow into independent studios that are self-sustaining in the global market, and through this Nexon secures long-term business allies to open up future markets together.
In terms of investment expertise, the two firms have set up a division of labor. Kona Venture Partners leads early discovery and development from the seed to Series A stages, while Nexon Partners handles some co-investment at Series A and follow-on direct investments. The structure is designed to spread early-stage risk while concentrating Nexon's resources on strong IP that has entered a growth trajectory, creating a virtuous cycle.
Notably, Nexon chose an "open ecosystem model" instead of the one-sided approach of requiring publishing rights as a condition of investment. The intent is to make investments without tying up publishing rights, helping development studios grow independently. As the industry's biggest player, this is seen as a "win-win" strategy that both revitalizes a shrinking Korean game ecosystem and broadens Nexon's pool of long-term business partners.
"Proactively identifying next-generation IP and unrivaled technology to secure leadership in the global market is Nexon's core task," said Kim Han-jun, Nexon's chief investment officer. "Through public-private cooperation, we will fill the early-stage investment gap and firmly establish an ecosystem-based long-term program so that the promising startups we identify can grow alongside Nexon on the global stage."
