Com2uS to focus on global publishing as gaming market retracts

[COM2US]

Com2uS, the game company behind the popular Summoners War franchise, will streamline its business structure amid a retracting market with a focus on the global publishing business this year.

The company plans to publish three new mobile games in cooperation with other game developers instead of developing in-house games.

Com2uS is one of many local game companies suffering through a market slump in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as outdoor activities surge and the economy slows.

The company has gone through several rounds of downsizing following lackluster earnings performance for four consecutive quarters since the October-December period of 2022. On Jan. 18, the company revealed a workforce reduction plan targeting a two-digit number of individuals, aimed at streamlining its developer team.

“That does not mean that we are giving up on our game development,” said Com2uS’s Senior Vice President Han Ji-hoon of the game business group at a press showcase on Thursday in western Seoul. “We’re going to continue to pursue that realm and continue developing our iconic Summoners War and Pro Baseball franchises, but we’re expanding our business strategy for our publishing business as well.”

The three new mobile games are: Frostpunk: Beyond the Ice, developed by Chinese developer NetEase; BTS Cooking On: TinyTan Restaurant by Korean company Grampus and Starseed: Asnia Trigger by another Korean company Mojito Games.

Frostpunk: Beyond the Ice is set in a 19th-century dystopia where the world is trapped in an endless winter. Players make the critical decisions to build up their own city from the very start, creating a refuge and developing it into a city by constructing buildings for survivors.

The United States, Britain and the Philippines will have early access to the game from Jan. 31, and will expand the service globally at a later date.

BTS Cooking On: Tinytan Restaurant is based on the K-pop group BTS’s intellectual property. Based on BTS songs and animated characters, players will cook and serve a variety of different menus across the globe, at the venues of BTS concerts and themed restaurants.

The title will receive pre-reservation next month and will be simultaneously launched overseas in the first half of this year.

Starseed: Asnia Trigger is set in a futuristic era where AI is threatening to eliminate all humankind, and players will become female warriors to prevent the apocalypse from happening.

The title will be released sometime in the first half of this year in Korea first and then expand the service to other regions.

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