Tencent, Line invest $110m in South Korean game developer

The Seoul-based 4:33 Creative Labs has previously obtained KRW9 billion ($8 million) funding from Korea Investment Partners and LB investment, formerly LG Venture Investment, AVCJ Research records show.

The company's biggest games include Arrow and Blade, which are available on local mobile messaging app Kakoo Talk. The company plans to go public on its domestic bourse next year.

"With the latest investment, 4:33 has secured reliable partners, Tencent and Line, which have a combined number of more than one billion subscribers in global markets including China, Japan and Southeast Asia," said So Tae-hwan, co-chief executive officer of 4:33 Creative Labs. "The project will create a thousand possibilities for success and help revive the domestic game market too."

Tencent is an active strategic investor in South Korean social networking and gaming sectors. This year it has committed $20 million in mobile game developer PATI Games and paid $500 million for a 28% stake in CJ Games. In 2012, the Chinese internet giant teamed up with online games developer Wemade Entertainment to invest KRW92 billion in Kakoo Talk.

Line, owned by South Korea's Naver Corp, revealed plans few months ago to go public in Tokyo and New York. In August, the firm acquired a less than 10% stake in Gumi, a VC-backed Japanese game developer.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Venture
• Greater China
• North Asia
• Technology
• China
• TMT
• Tencent
• Japan
• South Korea
• Venture