NHN 'absorbing' NHN Bigfoot, a wholly-owned subsidiary

KRX-listed NHN is "absorbing" NHN Bigfoot, a subsidiary already wholly owned, in an effort to consolidate efforts and bring its game-related units closer to the core operation of the parent company.

The effort began last February when NHN Bigfoot merged its subsidiaries NHN PixelCube and NHN RPG.

NHN Bigfoot was a wholly-owned subsidiary of NHN specializing in mobile games. NHN focuses on PC games. The parent company explained that it saw the need to unify the capabilities, which had been spread out in different subsidiaries in the past, to make better use of the company's resources.

The incorporation of NHN Bigfoot was canceled.

"We have absorbed NHN Bigfoot as of Oct. 1 and merged the company's game businesses with the parent company's," NHN said in a press release.

"Using our No. 1 abilities in digital board games, we plan to expand our game businesses to the Western, and ultimately global, stage from the previous focus on local and Asian markets."

NHN was founded in 1998 as Hangame Communication. It merged with Naver in 2000, and the new company changed its name to NHN. The two companies split in 2013 as Naver and NHN Entertainment, and NHN Entertainment changed its name to NHN in 2019.

Kim Sang-ho, CEO of NHN Bigfoot, will lead the gaming unit at NHN.

The streamlining comes as regulations on games have eased in recent years and the company saw the need to focus its strengths in order to expand its presence in the global market.

Under the new structure, NHN will focus on creating online board games, social casino games and casual games. The company will also merge its blockchain technologies with its games to create a play-to-earn gaming system where users get to cash their in-game earnings into real money.

NHN's stock rose 2.79 percent in trading Tuesday, the day of the announcement. It has lost almost half its value since the beginning of the year. The company lost 5.3 billion won ($3.7 billion) on a net basis in the second quarter of 2022 and 4.5 billion won in the first quarter.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]