On June 22, Kakao Games held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and board meeting at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where Kim Tae-hwan and Lee Si-woo were appointed as joint CEOs.
CFO Shin Kwon-ho, who attended the meeting, stated regarding future business directions, "There may be collaboration with Line Games, but there are no plans for a merger. The demand for games is increasing in markets like Vietnam and Indonesia, where the Line platform is strong, so we expect to secure additional markets."
He added, "Kakao Games, being larger and established earlier, will become the center of the gaming business within the group."
This shareholders' meeting was the first held since the completion of the maximum shareholder change process for the special purpose company (SPC) funded by Line Yahoo on June 19. Kakao Games plans to reorganize its gaming business under the new management structure.
The immediate challenge for the company is to recover its performance. Kakao Games has recorded losses for six consecutive quarters. Following its flagship title, 'Odin: Valhalla Rising,' the company has not released another major hit, making the success of new titles a key variable for performance recovery.
CFO Shin also noted, "With recent funding secured, significant financial improvements have been made. We will prepare well for the scheduled new releases and gradually improve our situation."
Kakao Games views the release of new titles in the second half of the year as a turning point for performance recovery. In the third quarter, 'Odin Q' is set to launch, followed by 'God Save Birmingham' and 'ArcheAge Chronicle' in the fourth quarter. Given that the success of new titles is crucial for improving profitability, the company plans to focus on stabilizing its organization to avoid disruptions in development and service schedules during the management transition.
In the medium to long term, the company will also seek to identify growth drivers. Having completed the restructuring of non-core businesses and improved its financial structure, Kakao Games plans to actively consider investments in promising domestic and international developers as well as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to secure financial stability.
At the center of this strategy is joint CEO Kim Tae-hwan. Kim is a seasoned strategy expert in the gaming industry, having held positions such as head of strategic planning at Nexon Korea, vice president at Nexon Japan, and chief strategy officer at Line Games. He is expected to lead the expansion of global business, strategic investments, and the discovery of new growth drivers based on his experience in business development and M&A.
Joint CEO Lee Si-woo is a business expert who has overseen mobile operations at Kakao Games after working at NHN and Wemade. He is expected to focus on strengthening game service competitiveness and improving operational efficiency.
On the same day, the Kakao Games Shareholders' Alliance issued a statement demanding the company disclose specific release schedules and revenue forecasts for key new titles, as well as a roadmap for performance recovery. They also urged the company to explore ways to utilize treasury shares and establish official communication channels between the company and its shareholders.
CFO Shin commented on the use of treasury shares, saying, "They could be used to attract external talent or to enhance shareholder value through buybacks. We will make decisions based on a comprehensive assessment of internal and external circumstances."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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