US-based global storytelling platform WEBTOON Entertainment (NASDAQ: WBTN), the parent company of Naver Webtoon, is making a strategic investment in RI Games Holdings, the owner of the game studios GrayGames and Offbeat. The deal closes in two tranches: a first closing of 2,999 shares (about 20% of RI Games Holdings) for ~$33.2m (KRW 50.0B), and a second closing of the remaining 6,001 shares for ~$66.5m (KRW 100.0B), conditional on Overgeared’s commercial launch. Together, the two closings would take WEBTOON to 60% for ~$100m (KRW 150.0B) in cash. The agreement was signed with seller Redice & Company on Aug 6, 2026, and announced alongside Q2’26 results on Aug 10. It is WEBTOON’s first move to own, rather than license, the development studios that turn its webcomics into games.
The company’s current product lineup includes three announced titles, all drawn from webcomics WEBTOON already owns the audience for: Overgeared, with 1.3 billion global views; Doom Breaker, with 0.6 billion; and Omniscient Reader, with 3.1 billion. Every title is planned as part of a franchise rather than a standalone release, with an anime adaptation alongside the game. Leading the lineup is an action MMORPG based on Overgeared, developed by GrayGames and published by NEXON for global launch on PC and mobile later this year, timed to the anime’s October 2026 premiere. The two companies plan multiple releases over the next four years.
That first launch is also the deal’s own trigger. Two-thirds of the price moves only once Overgeared is released, and the money-back right runs the other way: if the studio has not booked ~$166m (KRW 250.0B) of revenue over the considered period running from Jan 1, 2027 (or the game’s launch, if sooner) through Jun 30, 2030, WEBTOON can hand the second tranche back to the seller at broadly what it paid. The committed price is therefore genuinely smaller than the headline number suggests.
WEBTOON reported the same day. Q2’26 revenue was $338.5m, down 2.8% and up 5.2% in constant currency, with gross margin up to 26% and adj. EBITDA of $5.5m, above the top range of guidance. The platform’s audience growth is close to flat, with 156.9 million MAU (up 0.5%) and 7.5 million monthly paying users (up 1.8%). The market’s read was negative. WEBTOON closed at $8.81 on Aug 11, down 6.8% from the previous close. The quarter itself beat, but the company guided Q3’26 adj. EBITDA to $0.0m-$5.0m, below the $5.5m it had just delivered, on revenue of $358m to $368m.
The deal lands on the smallest of the three lines reported by WEBTOON. IP Adaptations turned over $27.4m in the quarter (-3% YoY), 8% of the group’s total revenue. It includes $8m from sublicensing titles to third parties and ~$2m from merchandise and IP royalties, with the rest earned from producing adaptations commissioned by outside studios and streamers. Until now, WEBTOON has mostly been paid a fee for that work, while someone else has taken the equity upside.
The fund answers the same constraint from the other direction. NW Webcomic Adaptation Fund was established on Jul 14, 2026, as a $100m closed-end vehicle, with NAVER’s N Investment as the 60% limited partner ($60m) and WEBTOON holding the remaining 40%. Its mandate is to take equity positions in adaptations of WEBTOON and NAVER webcomics across film, series, animation, and games.
WEBTOON’s balance sheet is strong, with $583.1m in cash (as of Jun 30, 2026) and no outstanding debt liabilities. That balance sheet and a stated intent to own studios rather than license to them put a new name on the buy side of the video game market. InvestGame starts tracking WEBTOON Entertainment in our public comps universe, and we expect it to appear again as an acquirer. We will be watching whether the Overgeared MMORPG and its anime land together in the fourth quarter as planned.
