NCSOFT's R&D Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of NCSOFT

Korean gaming giant NCSOFT is set to acquire Germany-based mobile gaming platform JustPlay for $202 million, as part of the company’s efforts to expand its casual game business in the European market.

The NCSOFT board approved the plan Tuesday to take over a 70 percent stake in JustPlay. The acquisition will be completed by the end of next month.

JustPlay was founded in 2020 by former executives from global advertising technology firm AppLovin. Headquartered in Berlin, JustPlay operates mobile casual games on a reward platform that shares a portion of advertising revenue with users to boost engagement and retention.

JustPlay operates more than 40 mobile casual games that it has developed and published through its platform. The company posted $172.8 million in sales and $19.1 million in operating profit in 2025. Its revenue for this year is projected to reach $325 million with an operating profit of $40 million.

The logos of NCSOFT and JustPlay / Courtesy of NCSOFT

Since approximately 70 percent of its revenue comes from North America, NCSOFT said JustPlay will serve as a key platform in NCSOFT’s strategy to build a global mobile casual game ecosystem.

NCSOFT has been pushing mobile casual games as a new growth driver in recent years. The company established its Mobile Casual Center in August last year and appointed Anel Ceman, former vice president of monetization at the U.K.’s Tripledot Studios, as senior vice president of mobile casual games. It has also recently acquired several mobile casual studios at home and abroad, including Vietnam’s Lihuhu and Korea’s Springcomes.

“With the acquisition of JustPlay, the company has secured adtech capabilities and is expected to quickly internalize its casual game expertise and improve profitability,” Hana Securities analyst Lee Jun-ho said. “Additional M&A (mergers and acquisitions) targeting studios in the casual genre is also expected in the second half.”

NCSOFT Co-CEO Park Byung-moo said JustPlay has strong growth potential, with its sales expected to grow 88 percent this year, adding that “through this acquisition, we will secure a key platform for our global mobile casual business and focus on building an ecosystem that maximizes synergies with our mobile casual studio subsidiaries at home and abroad.”

Source: Korea Times News