Nexon teams up with 'Parasite' film production company Barunson E&A

Nexon, one of South Korea's top three game giants, on Tuesday said it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Barunson Entertainment & Arts Corporation, the production company of the Oscar-winning movie "Parasite," on sharing video and game production know-how and intellectual property (IP) owned by both sides.

Their arrangement could mean the birth of a game based on the highly acclaimed film.

"The importance of IP in the content industry is growing by the day," Nexon CEO Lee Jung-hun said. "We look forward to raising the competitiveness of both companies' content units."

"We can expand the worldview and vision of creators regardless of genre such as videos and games," added Barunson E&A CEO Park Gene Hong.

Producing games using conventional IP allows relatively easy selection of materials and stories and is advantageous for marketing. Netmarble Corp.'s games Solo Leveling and Tower of God are based on Korean web novels and webtoons, and Krafton Inc. is preparing a game based on the fantasy novel series "The Bird that Drinks Tears" by Lee Youngdo.

"The volume of IP one has is important," a Nexon source said. "We plan to expand cooperation with IP-holding companies."

M&As for securing IP are on the rise. Com2uS Corp., a game company famous for its game Summoners War: Sky Arena, created a sensation in the industry last year through its hit Youngest Son of a Conglomerate, a feat that came within a year after Com2uS' takeover of the content production company Wysiwyg Studios Co.

"We will develop Com2uS not into a simple game company but an IP company covering a range of content," said CEO Song Jae-joon.

A game based on a hit movie, drama or webtoon does not guarantee success, however. For example, most games based on the global smash HBO series "Game of Thrones," based on the novel "A Song of Ice and Fire," have failed.

Write to Sang-Eun Lee at selee@hankyung.com