NCSoft family empire crumbles with sweeping management overhaul

NCSoft's headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi [NCSOFT]

The family business empire built around NCSoft’s founder Kim Taek-jin is falling through as the game publisher attempts a management makeover to streamline the revenue from its game business.

Yoon Song-yee, Kim’s wife and NCSoft’s chief strategy officer, and Kim Taek-heon, Kim’s brother and chief publishing officer, are stepping down from their respective positions to focus on overseas operations, according to the company’s internal communication system on Tuesday.

Yoon will resume her positions as CEO of NCSoft West Holdings, the publisher’s parent company that oversees NCSoft’s expansion into the Western market, and chairperson of the NC Cultural Foundation.

Kim Taek-heon will oversee management of foreign subsidiaries in Japan and Taiwan.

In turn, the company hired three chief brand officers in charge of the company’s core intellectual properties and created a separate department directly under company heads that manages game development and judicial affairs.

The three newly-named chief brand officers are Lee Seong-goo, head of the Lineage franchise, Baek Seung-wook in charge of developing the mobile game Aion2 and Choi Moon-young, in charge of Throne and Liberty franchise.

The game publisher has been attempting to come up ways to revamp its management as it fails to come up with a hit game franchise since Lineage.

In October, the company formed a task force committee consisting of top executives to find new revenue streams.

Last month, it recruited outside member Park Byung-moo, prior head of the Korean private equity firm VIG Partners, to co-head the company along with Kim Taek-jin.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]