Kakao continues investing in mobile developer Neptune
Korean publisher's third investment worth $16.9 million intended to promote esports growth
Kakao Games has made another equity investment into Korean mobile developer Neptune Co, this time worth 19 billion won ($16.9 million). With this investment, the company hopes to further esports market growth through the two studios' partnership.
This marks the third such equity investment from Kakao into Neptune, with the previous investment occurring in February and worth $8.7 million. Venture Square World's report on the earlier investment also noted that Neptune was planning its own developer acquisitions in the future.
Per an agreement established upon earlier investments, Neptune will develop all its future games for the Korean market on Kakao's platform, excepting sports games. In addition, Neptune has two other titles in development that use characters from the "Kakao Friends" series.
As reported in Korean publication Pulse, Kakao sees this investment as a way to promote the growth of the esports market in the country. It now owns an 11% stake in Neptune.