E-book companies join original content war

E-book gettyimagesbank

By Park Ji-won

More e-book companies are diversifying their business portfolios to come up with original content amid the intensifying battle between online content providers.

Ridibooks, or Ridi, one of the largest e-book companies in Korea, founded a mobile game affiliate 2DC, Jan. 11 as part of its efforts to offer content in various fields such as e-books, web novels, web comics, animation and games.

The affiliate is aiming to launch a series of mobile games based on the intellectual properties of Ridi, which has more than 230,000 titles. 2DC is planning to launch a mobile game targeting female users in the first half of the year.

Ridi started with an e-book business in 2008, but it expanded through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in recent years. In August 2019, it merged with Laftel Group, an animation streaming service provider while buying out Aces Media, a web novel-focused publisher in February last year.

The company said in a statement that this was part of its efforts to expand its intellectual property businesses to build a cultural economic chain in related fields such as animation, comics, games and novels.

In August last year, it released a web comic “Under the Oak Tree” based on the web novel of the same title, while releasing an animation series “Super Secret,” based on a web comic released on Naver.

“Bookclub millie,” a book subscription service provider offering 100,000 titles, also started a drama business last year. It held a script contest with Gozknock ENT and selected a thriller titled “Happy Battle” to be dramatized. The piece depicts a homicide incident in a luxurious residential area in the posh Gangnam District.

The move came amid the intensifying battle between online content companies to secure more original series following the rising demand for content amid the spread of COVID-19.

Naver, Korea's leading online platform giant, announced Wednesday that it had bought 100 percent of the shares of Wattpad, a Canada-based web novel company with more than 90 million monthly users who spend an aggregate 23 billion minutes using the service every month. The move was part of the company diversifying its intellectual property businesses and its business in North America.

“Over the last few years, online-based content such as web comics and web novels, started to work closely. Many web novels, which weren't recognized as source material for original content in the past, were made into web comics. Once a web comic based on a web novel becomes popular, it becomes a drama,” a person familiar with the web comics business said.

“Also, fans of web comics also read the original web novels and watch the dramas, meaning that a positive reaction is somewhat guaranteed. Also the web comics have a lower language barrier to readers and a larger market, so it is easier for the content providers to attract more fans. Using one creation in various genres creates a virtuous cycle for the original piece. It is very important for content providers to secure more original content.”