percasting' began... Declaration of Global Super Gap
Produce original webtoons using BTS, etc.
Creator's revenue model PPS amount disclosure
Naver is launching a 'supercasting' project that utilizes external intellectual property rights (IP) such as BTS and DC Comics into webtoons or web novels. It declared that this will create a 'significant gap' in the global webtoon market as the leading platform. At a press conference held on the 18 th, Naver Webtoon CEO Jun-gu Kim said, “Naver Webtoon has solidified its position as the leading operator in the global webtoon market. We are planning many projects with other leading operators in different fields.”
Naver Webtoon announced the supercasting project that utilizes external IPs and creates as original contents for webtoons or web novels. The first collaboration partners of supercasting are HYBE and DC Comics. In the future, Naver Webtoon will create webtoons or web novels with original stories in collaboration with artists from labels affiliated with HYBE, including BTS. It also plans to produce original webtoons using DC Universe and its characters. CEO Kim emphasized that, “Only the leading platform can cast Super IPs. In addition to HYBE and DC Comics, there are more collaborations in schedule.”
Naver Webtoon revealed the amount of creators' revenue through the webtoon creator’s profit model, Page Profit Share (PPS) program. The maximum profit an individual creator made through the PPS program was 12.4 billion won in the past 12 months. The average 12-month income of all creators was 280 million won, and the average annualized revenue of creators who started serializing on the Naver platform within the last 12 months was 150 million won. The total revenue of the PPS program reached 1.7 trillion won over 12 months. Naver Webtoon explained that this was the result of a combination of IP acquisition and using AI technology in production, recommendation service, advertisement, payment, and security.
The National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) predicted in 2019 that the global digital comics market would reach $1.345 billion (about 1.5 trillion won) by 2022. Naver Webtoon came close to the estimate about a year earlier in terms of reader performance alone. CEO Kim said, “The webtoon business started in Korea, but it is growing into mainstream markets. This is significant remark that we broke the 1 trillion won mark in a short span of time.” This explains that Naver is completing the IP value chain that connects web novels to webtoons to visuals, and is nurturing the creator ecosystem.
On the same press conference, Naver also mentioned Kakao, which is competing in the webtoon market. Kakao recently introduced the 'Kakao Webtoon' service all over the world. In Japan, the leading operator, Piccoma, is doubling the sales gap with Naver Line Manga.
CEO Kim introduced a graph comparing the business performances of the two companies by region, and emphasized that Korean companies are leading the global webtoon market. In all regions, the two companies accounted for more than 50% of the total market share. CEO Kim said, “There are cases where competition (between Korean companies) has become fierce like it happened in Japan. We can grow the market faster while keeping competition healthy.” Regarding Naver Webtoon's initial public offering (IPO) in the US market, CEO Kim said that Naver is reviewing with many possible options with an open mind.
By Staff Reporter Siso Kim (siso@etnews.com)