WEBTOON Grows Ecosystem by Sharing Revenue With Creators

WEBTOON has distributed more than 4 trillion won in revenue to webtoon creators over the past five years. This year, the company plans to invest an additional 70 billion won to support creators and to build a "value chain" that attracts more users through enhanced content production and intellectual property (IP) businesses, with an eye on global expansion.
At the press conference on the 17th at Naver Square Yeoksam in Gangnam District, Seoul, WEBTOON's new president overseeing the webtoon business, Kim Yong-soo, said, "The success of creators is the success of webtoons," adding, "Growth is what matters most for webtoons, and we will make sure webtoons become part of the global mainstream."
According to WEBTOON, its North American parent company Webtoon Entertainment has distributed a total of 4.15 trillion won in revenue to creators over the five years from 2021 through last year. This year, it will invest about 70 billion won into the creator ecosystem. This creator-centric ecosystem has led to tangible results, including a more than 15% increase in new titles in 2024 compared with 2023. Kim Yong-soo stated, "We will further expand the 'flywheel' in which creators, content, and users form a virtuous cycle that has enabled webtoons to go global," and stressed, "We will drive growth across all areas, including artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the IP industry."
This year, WEBTOON will focus on strengthening user-generated content (UGC) and diversifying creator support, expanding video formats and nurturing mega IP, and advancing digital characters and social features. The company plans to further bolster UGC so that more creators join the platform. In particular, expanding video formats through screen adaptations is taking up an increasingly large share of WEBTOON's business portfolio. Beyond adaptations of Korean WEBTOON originals, a slate of video projects based on IP developed in-house in global markets is also lined up for release this year.
In particular, WEBTOON plans to launch a new digital comics platform co-developed with The Walt Disney Company by the end of this year. The service will upgrade the existing Disney–Marvel "Marvel Unlimited" app with platform technologies such as AI-based recommendations. Kim Yong-soo explained, "The new Disney platform we will launch in the North American market does not overlap with WEBTOON's existing user base, so there is room for mutual growth," adding, "The content we will offer through the Disney platform will also be quite different in nature, which means we can protect our existing WEBTOON platform while achieving win–win growth."
wongood@fnnews.com Reporter Joo Won-gyu Reporter