Nexon is stepping up efforts to cultivate ecosystems in the gaming industry amid the AI paradigm shift and venture capital winter, with the 2026 Nexon Developers Conference (NDC) and a five-year, 250 billion won ($181 million) investment forming the two pillars of a shared growth blueprint.
Nexon is stepping up efforts to cultivate ecosystems in the gaming industry amid the AI paradigm shift and venture capital winter, with the 2026 Nexon Developers Conference (NDC) and a five-year, 250 billion won ($181 million) investment forming the two pillars of a shared growth blueprint.
This intervention comes at a critical moment for the industry. Venture capital is retreating, wary of long, unstable cycles, while developers are marooned by major publishers demanding platform lock-in or a full merger and acquisition. To bridge that funding chasm, Nexon fronted the newly formed venture Nexon Partners, priming the pump for a 5-year long-term investment.
Nexon’s strategy runs on two distinct tracks. The first is a Kona Global intellectual property (IP) investment partnership with VC Kona Ventures, a 120 billion won public-private venture, pooling 60 billion won in funds from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) with 58.8 billion won from the game developer in the newly formed Nexon Partners.
The second track is direct proprietary investment, putting 130 billion won toward promising developers based on analyses and market indicators, with a five-year diversified strategy spread across 40 different startups and high-upside bets on secured opportunities as the company taps the successful formula of its predecessor, Net Games.
The plan’s open ecosystem model uniquely prioritizes developer autonomy, refusing to impose lock-in contracts to provide business independence to developers.
To that end, Nexon Partners is built on three pillars.
The first plan is to transcend platform boundaries and connect with the global IP ecosystem. The second plan is to enter the stable growth phase, driven by a precise user acquisition marketing strategy. The third is to cast a wider net with high-end technologies to change the gaming paradigm with “Gamified AI.”
Nexon will build on its legacy as the founder of the NDC, the first domestic game developers’ knowledge-sharing conference, in 2007, followed by the opening of the Nexon Partners Center in 2012 to support promising startups for free.
The emergence of Nexon Partners' intangible knowledge sharing and physical infrastructure support naturally carries forward Nexon’s two-decade legacy of mutual growth.
With the company set to screen its initial deal in the second half of the year, it is expected to invigorate the overall local gaming industry through its affiliates.
Underscoring this commitment, Nexon chief investment officer Kim Han Joon said, “In the face of severe fundraising headwinds, operating investment programs and public-private cooperation will ease the initial funding gap and discover next-generation global IP that will emerge during the AI transition. Nexon Partners will serve as a robust springboard for leverage on the global stage amid frozen funds.”
