Line merges NextFloor with Line Games publishing division (updated)

Earlier in July, Japanese mobile messaging firm Line Corp. acquired a majority stake in game developer NextFloor, and it has now merged the NextFloor brand into its Line Games publishing division. With NextFloor, Line Games plans to expand its business in publishing and pursue a global game business including console and mobile games.

Minkyu Kim will serve as CEO of Line Games, while Eunseon Hwang will serve as CEO of NextFloor. The name of the combined companies will be Line Games, and it will hold a 51 percent stake in NextFloor.

Line Games said the reason for the deal is the “enhancement of management efficiency and fortification of business capabilities with the plans to generate synergistic effects in works based on professional manpower in a diverse range of areas including game publishing and development through the merger.”

NextFloor was founded in 2012, and it is the developer of the mobile game Dragon Flight, which has had daily sales revenue of more than $1 million since its launch in 2012. It was a huge success with more than 14 million users downloading the game on Google Play in South Korea. The developer continuously updates the game to keep it popular.

NextFloor also published the mobile game Destiny Child, which has been a hit game since 2016. Line Corp. has an extremely popular mobile messaging service, Line, in Asia. In the second half of the year, the company plans to publish games on platforms such as the Nintendo Switch.

[Updated 7/26/18 9:28 a.m.: Corrected to note Line Games and NextFloor have merged].