[Edaily Marketin Song Seung-Hyeon Reporter] A single game has generated cumulative sales of 600 billion won. We’re talking about the mobile adventure RPG “Guardian Tales,” which was simultaneously released in approximately 230 countries worldwide in July 2020. Kong Studios developed this game, which blends puzzles and mini-games with retro pixel art reminiscent of 1990s games. This is why Atinum Investment decided to back the company.

According to the venture capital (VC) industry on the 3rd, Atinum Investment participated as the lead investor in Kong Studios’ Series C round. SV Investment, Smilegate Investment, and Daesung Venture Investment were listed as co-investors. The round was finalized last December. Previously, in its Series B round in 2021, the company raised $62 million (approximately 73 billion won) from investors including DSC Investment and SmartStudy Ventures.

This round came amid a downturn in gaming sector investment. According to the Korea Venture Capital Association, new investments by domestic VCs in the gaming sector fell for three consecutive years, from 161.5 billion won in 2022 to 115.4 billion won in 2023 and 99.9 billion won in 2024. In 2024, the gaming sector ranked last among major industries. Although investment rebounded to 206.8 billion won last year, investment firms have set higher standards for evaluating gaming companies.

Kong Studio was founded in Silicon Valley, USA, in 2013. Its headquarters are currently located in Los Angeles, California, and in 2015, it established Kong Studio Korea, a Korean subsidiary responsible for development, in Seoul. Founder and CEO Seok Kwang-won earned a Ph.D. in computer engineering from Seoul National University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in computer graphics at Carnegie Mellon University before launching the company. The company’s founding philosophy is to regard “innovative gameplay and narrative” as the essence of games.

Its first title was the mobile puzzle RPG “Dungeon Link,” released in 2015. Its second title is “Guardian Tales.” It is a fantasy game depicting the adventures of “Guardians” who set out to save a kingdom occupied by mysterious invaders. Within a familiar framework of retro pixel art graphics and four-direction controls, the game incorporates elements rarely seen in conventional mobile games. These elements include in-game mini-games and puzzle-solving, action sequences involving interaction with in-game objects, and multiplayer, social, and lifestyle content.

Service expansion has also been carried out in stages. In April 2021, the company entered the Chinese market with Bilibili as its publisher, and in October of the same year, it began exclusive local publishing in Japan through its subsidiary, Kong Studio Japan. In October 2022, it released a global version for the Nintendo Switch. Cumulative revenue rose from $216 million (approximately 250 billion won) as of the end of August 2021 to approximately 600 billion won as of the end of July this year. Cumulative mobile app downloads stood at approximately 41 million as of the same time, while the Switch version recorded approximately 1.4 million downloads.

It is worth noting that the company has secured external publishers for its entire next-generation lineup. The 2D pixel-art-based RPG “Guardian Maiden” has signed a publishing agreement with Kakao Games, while the casual action roguelike RPG “Project Octopus” has signed a publishing agreement with Netmarble. This strategy involves continuing the partnership with Kakao Games—which handled the domestic and global services for *Guardian Tales*—while also selecting Netmarble as a partner in the casual genre, a company that has established a proven track record in adapting IPs for casual games through titles like *Seven Knights: Raising*.

Kong Studio’s next challenge is to reduce its reliance on a single IP. Now in its 13th year since founding, the company has only one commercially proven title: *Guardian Tales*. The company has announced plans to continue its global expansion by unveiling a lineup spanning various genres, led by these two new titles. According to the company, it is simultaneously running multiple projects led by executives and development leaders who have built their careers across various industries outside the gaming sector. The performance of these new titles is expected to serve as a turning point that will determine Kong Studio’s standing in the industry.