The South Korean game maker said Tuesday it would channel money into studios at the seed and Series A stages, pairing large-scale private capital with government policy funds in a public-private structure designed to revive faltering investor appetite for fledgling developers.
To run the effort, Nexon has established a dedicated unit, Nexon Partners, which joined forces with games-focused venture firm Kona Venture Partners to launch a 120 billion won strategic fund.
The fund draws 60 billion won from the Culture Ministry's intellectual-property mother fund, while Nexon will separately inject about 130 billion won to bankroll follow-on growth.
The program adopts an open-ecosystem model, extending capital even to titles Nexon does not publish itself, and stretches the definition of a game to embrace broader IP such as "gamified AI."
Investment targets include studios building globally scalable IP and next-generation games powered by emerging technologies.
"In this market environment, we will resolve the early-stage funding gap through public-private cooperation and operate this as a long-term ecosystem investment program that uncovers the next generation of global IP born out of the AI transition," said Lee Jung-hun, chief executive of Nexon Partners.
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