HYBE Interactive Media (HYBE IM), the gaming subdivision of South Korean music and entertainment giant HYBE, has announced it’s raised an additional KRW 30 billion (approx. USD $21 million) to accelerate its game development and publishing business.
Half of the new capital came from previous investor IMM Investment, with Shinhan Venture Investment and Daesung Private Equity joining as new investors.
The latest round follows an $80 million raise last year, led by Makers Fund with participation from IMM and parent company HYBE. Including the latest round, HYBE IM says it has raised KRW 137.5 billion (approx. $100 million).
The new funding is meant to enhance the company’s publishing capabilities and accelerate its long-term strategy, HYBE IM said in a statement issued on Monday (March 31). Specifically, the money will go towards marketing, operations, and “localization strategies to support the successful launch and stable live service” of HYBE IM’s game titles.
“This additional funding marks a pivotal moment in strengthening HYBE IM’s global competitiveness in both game publishing and development,” HYBE IM President Wooyong Chung said.
The gaming business is part of a broader diversification strategy at HYBE, which has included expansion of its music business into markets such as the US and Latin America, as well as expansion into media beyond music.
That strategy appears to be at least in part a response to HYBE having reached the limit of how far K-pop – and specifically the company’s flagship act BTS – can carry the company. With BTS on hiatus as its members complete compulsory military service, the K-pop giants now account for less than 20% of HYBE’s revenues.
And in a 2023 interview, HYBE Co-Founder and Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk said that “globally, [K-pop] is not occupying much of the market.”
In developing its gaming business, HYBE has harnessed the popularity of its K-pop acts, most notably BTS, around which the company developed BTS Island: In the SEOM. HYBE’s musical mobile game Rhythm Hive integrates numerous acts from its labels, including BTS, LE SSERAFIM, SEVENTEEN, and Tomorrow X Together.
“This additional funding marks a pivotal moment in strengthening HYBE IM’s global competitiveness in both game publishing and development.”
Wooyong Chung, HYBE IM
However, Chung stresses that the company is moving beyond integrations with its K-pop acts.
“We aim to evolve beyond IP-based gaming and become a next-generation publisher delivering compelling content to gamers worldwide,” he said.
In 2022, HYBE acquired a stake in game developer Flint, maker of the popular Dragon Blaze game.
The following year, HYBE and HYBE IM invested $21.8 million into South Korea-based developer Aqua Tree, following that up with a $1.45 million investment into South Korea’s Action Square in 2024.
HYBE IM’s strategy has also involved publishing partnerships, for instance with indie game developer Bonfire Studios, under which HYBE IM is the publisher of the player-versus-player (PvP) game Arkheron in South Korea and Japan.
But perhaps the most buzzworthy game so far in HYBE IM’s roster is the upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Architect: Land of Exiles, developed by HYBE IM and the aforementioned Aqua Tree. The trailer for the game landed last fall, prompting Gaming Bible to describe it as “The Witcher meets Final Fantasy.”
In a letter to shareholders last year, HYBE CEO Jason Jaesang Lee said gaming is “poised to play a crucial role” in HYBE’s future entertainment ventures.
“Although gaming fans and music fans may have different characteristics and pursuits, both realms are united by their vital connection to intellectual property and the communities that cherish and enjoy it,” he said.
“We believe that the expertise HYBE has developed in the music fandom business can be effectively adapted to the gaming industry as well.”Music Business Worldwide
