Changing names latest trend for game firms
NHN Entertainment's building in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of NHN Entertainment
By Jun Ji-hye
An increasing number of game companies are deciding to change their names in efforts to become more comprehensive content creators and expand their presence in the global market, company officials said Tuesday.
The move is apparently aimed at making up for their weakening profits in their top income source ― games. The nation's game industry has slowed due to toughening regulations and cut-throat competition in addition to difficulty in exporting games to China, the world's biggest game market.
NHN Entertainment, an online game and services provider, plans to change its name to NHN during a general meeting of stockholders scheduled for March. Once the meeting approves the motion, the firm will officially use the new name, which excludes “entertainment,” in April.
“The change of the company name is to make a new leap forward as an IT company,” an official from NHN Entertainment said.
The company has already begun efforts to diversify its business and services. In 2015, it entered the fintech market by launching mobile payment service Payco, which covers online shopping malls as well as offline outlets and public transportation.
The firm is also offering music streaming service Bugs and cloud computing service TOAST Cloud.
Another game firm, Wemade Entertainment, is also moving to exclude the word “entertainment” from its company name.
A company official said the motion to change the firm's name to Wemade is expected to be approved at a general meeting of stockholders scheduled for March.
Wemade Entertainment's new logo / Courtesy of Wemade Entertainment
“We are seeking to move away from an image as a company limited to the entertainment business,” an official from Wemade Entertainment said. “We plan to operate diverse businesses besides the development of games.”
The firm is working to expand its intellectual property (IP) business in China as it won a copyright infringement lawsuit it had filed in a Beijing court against Chinese company 37Games.
At the time, Wemade Entertainment claimed 37Games' web game “Legend of Dominance Tour” infringed the copyright of “The Legend of Mir 2.”
The company noted that the ruling would directly influence other court battles regarding the IP of “The Legend of Mir 2,” saying its IP business is proceeding as planned.
The company has also entered the blockchain market by launching its subsidiary, Wemade Tree, last year.
The firm said it is seeking to make inroads in overseas markets such as North America and Europe as well as Japan and Thailand.
On Nov. 30, Bluehole, famous for “PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds,” announced the change of the firm's name to Krafton to “enhance its competitiveness in the global market.”
“We will grow our company as a strong brand with which excellent developers want to join hands,” Krafton CEO Kim Hyo-seob said at the time.