For years, NCSOFT has been synonymous with large-scale MMORPGs. But its latest acquisition makes one thing clear: relying on legacy franchises is no longer enough in a market that increasingly rewards scale, speed, and accessibility.
By acquiring a 67% stake in Singapore-based Indygo Group for 153.4 billion won (around $103.8 million), NCSOFT isn’t simply entering the casual games space, it’s actively hedging against the structural risks of its own business model.
This is not a creative experiment. It’s a defensive, numbers-driven move.
Buying Revenue, Not Just Studios
The real value in the Indygo deal lies in Vietnam-based developer Lihuhu, a casual and puzzle game specialist expected to generate roughly 120 billion won in revenue in 2025. More importantly, over 80% of that revenue comes from North America and Europe.
For NCSOFT, this immediately solves two problems.
First, it offers predictable, recurring mobile revenue without the long development cycles and heavy live-ops costs associated with MMORPGs. Second, it provides instant access to Western casual markets, something Korean publishers often struggle to crack organically.
Rather than building a casual pipeline from scratch, NCSOFT is buying one that already works.
NCSOFT’s historical strength lies in franchises like Lineage, but the MMORPG segment has become increasingly unforgiving. Rising user acquisition costs, aging player bases, and high churn make long-term growth harder to sustain.
Casual mobile games, by contrast, trade depth for reach. They scale faster, appeal to wider demographics, and are less vulnerable to sudden drops in engagement. In today’s mobile-first economy, that trade-off makes financial sense, even for a company built on hardcore gaming.
The fact that NCSOFT is pairing the Indygo acquisition with plans to acquire Korean casual studio Springcomes suggests this is a structural shift, not a temporary detour.
A Portfolio Reset in Disguise
NCSOFT has also set up a dedicated mobile casual center to integrate development, publishing, data, and technology under a single ecosystem. On paper, this positions the company to operate more like a modern mobile publisher than a traditional PC-first developer.
With the acquisition of Lihuhu, we have established a growth foothold in the global mobile casual game market. We expect Lihuhu to serve as a hub for casual game development in the Asian region. – Park Byung-moo, co-CEO of NCSOFT
The subtext here is hard to ignore: NCSOFT is recalibrating its identity.
“We are in talks with European studios for further mergers and acquisitions,” Park added. “Along with M&As, we are also seeking business collaborations with multiple global game studios to expand our casual game business.”
Instead of betting everything on a few massive titles, the company is moving toward a portfolio model built on multiple smaller, scalable products, a strategy better aligned with where global gaming growth is actually happening. The strategic move with NC America also hints at the same.
NCSOFT’s Indygo deal doesn’t guarantee success in casual games. Execution will matter far more than intent. But it does signal a clear understanding of the problem: the future of growth will not come from doubling down on the past.
And in today’s market, that realization may be the most important move of all.
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