Gravity acquires controlling interest in Barunson
Dragonica owner bought out by publisher after taking control of game in US
Korean MMORPG publisher Barunson, whose properties include 3D MMO Dragonica, has been acquired by Gravity – the company which took over the publishing duties for Dragonica in the US after THQ*ICE closed its doors earlier this month.
Gravity paid KRW 11,688 million (£6.5m) for a 50.8 per cent equity stake in the company, and plans to use the new resources to strengthen it online development capacity.
"We expect this transaction will create significant value for Gravity and its shareholders as Barunson Interactive has talented online game developers with great experience," said Gravity's CEO and president Toshinoro Ohno.
"We believe it represents an important step forward to secure continuous profit by diversifying our revenue source and create synergy from the two companies' online game development teams."
Dragonica's future had been in doubt following the closure of THQ*ICE, but Gravity assured GamesIndustry.biz earlier this month that the game would be operable again by the end of September.
In Europe, Dragonica is run by Gala Networks via gPotato portal.