Netmarble to build new headquarters

By Yoon Sung-won

Netmarble Games said Tuesday it will build a content industry complex and its new headquarters in Guro, southwestern Seoul.

The nation’s largest mobile game company said it has reached an agreement with Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) to establish a 46-story office building, which is estimated to be worth about 400 billion won, at the digital content industrial zone G-Valley. The new building is scheduled to be completed in February 2017, it said.

“Besides job creation and culture promotion, the new building will be a landmark of G-Valley which will host R&D centers and a game museum,” Netmarble Games CEO Kwon Young-sik said. “It will also provide our employees with better working conditions and help the company strengthen its global competitiveness.”

KICOX has been seeking a private business to lead the G-Valley renovation project since 2014. At the tower, which has been tentatively named G-Square, digital content businesses such as gaming, video and cartoon firms as well as resident welfare facilities such as public recreation areas, sports centers and medical institutions will move in, the company said.

“Seoul is expecting G-Square to establish the foundation of the content industry as it will host diverse businesses,” Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said. “The city will provide support for this project as it will vitalize the regional economy and create more than 5,000 jobs.”