WEBTOON is actively expanding into original IP partnerships with major entertainment companies, launching AI-powered creation tools, and growing its animation production arm through Webtoon Productions.
WEBTOON has deepened its strategy of partnering with major entertainment franchises to produce original vertical-scroll webcomics. At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2026, Marvel and WEBTOON announced three original series created exclusively for the platform: Tony's Girl, That Time Deadpool Fell Into WEBTOON...and Found The Longest Title of All Time!!!, and X-Men Korea. This follows a May 2026 partnership with Paramount that produced two original Star Trek webcomic series, Stargazers and Recollection, marking the franchise's first expansion into the vertical-scroll format.
On the technology side, WEBTOON launched two new apps in June and July 2026. Cuts Make, released in June, lets users create short-form animated videos using officially licensed webtoon IP, with nine titles available at launch including Romance 101 and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. In July, the company launched byUs, an AI-powered story chat service that lets users create stories by interacting with characters from creator-approved webtoon IPs. byUs launched with the webtoon Ctrl+Alt+Resign and is currently available only in Korea, following the earlier Character Chat chatbot that exceeded 100 million messages by June 2025.
Webtoon Productions, the animation arm of WEBTOON Entertainment, continues to develop animated adaptations. In June 2026, it partnered with French studio OuiDo! Productions to develop an animated series based on Emma Krogell's fantasy webtoon Lumine, with Bryan Q. Miller attached as showrunner and co-writer. The project was introduced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival's Mifa market. Separately, the 2026 World Webtoon Awards, organized by Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KOCCA, opened reader nominations from June 15 to July 24, introducing cash prizes for the first time and adding a category for international works, with the ceremony set for December 2 in Seoul.
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Marvel Unlimited will end service on December 7, 2026, about 19 years after the subscription app launched in 2007. A new app called Marvel Comics, run by WEBTOON, launches on November 16 with roughly the same subscription price and more than 35,000 comics at launch. Purchased comics transfer through individual redemption codes, and libraries can be viewed until December 21 before the app is removed on December 28.
WEBTOON Entertainment's Korean subsidiary Naver Webtoon appointed President Yongsoo Kim and Chief Administrative Officer Gyu-nam Kim as co-CEOs on October 1. Yongsoo Kim keeps the WEBTOON Entertainment presidency while overseeing Naver Webtoon operations; Gyu-nam Kim holds both the CAO post and the co-CEO role. Founder Junkoo Kim steps down as Naver Webtoon CEO to focus on his chairman and CEO roles at WEBTOON Entertainment.
Kakao Entertainment will close its North American webtoon and webnovel platform Tapas and merge its two South Korean platforms, Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon, into a single service centered on Kakao Page by the end of 2026. The company plans to notify publishers and rights holders about the Tapas shutdown on Tuesday, covering the service end date, content management and settlements, with no details yet on user refunds or how content and user data will be handled. In South Korea, the consolidation will gather content, user data and about 16,000 original IPs onto Kakao Page. Kakao Entertainment is expected to announce a detailed transition schedule for users of both services on September 29. Most Kakao Webtoon reading histories, remaining cash balances and unused paid reading passes are expected to transfer to Kakao Page, with separate guidance promised on which assets qualify and how the transfers work.
Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency announced 20 finalists for the 2026 World Webtoon Awards. Readers worldwide can vote from September 17 to October 19, with judges' scores and reader votes each counting for 50 percent. The awards received 7,318 nominations from 4,038 fans, covering 941 submitted works. The ceremony is December 3 at Starfield Library in COEX Mall, Seoul.
WEBTOON Entertainment reported an operating loss of US$15.6 million for the second quarter of 2026, widening from US$8.8 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.8% to US$338.5 million, a decline the company blamed on the weak Korean won and Japanese yen. Currency-adjusted revenue would have grown 5.2%, with Korea up 16% and Japan down 15.6%.
WEBTOON Entertainment announced a definitive agreement to invest in RI Games Holdings, gaining a 60% stake at closing. The company plans to develop multiple games based on webtoon IPs over four years. The first title is an action MMORPG based on Overgeared, developed by GrayGames and published by Nexon, launching this year alongside the anime.
Marvel Comics and WEBTOON announced three original webcomic series created exclusively for the WEBTOON platform during Marvel's Next Big Thing panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday. The slate includes Tony's Girl, That Time Deadpool Fell Into WEBTOON...and Found The Longest Title of All Time!!!, and X-Men Korea, all designed for vertical-scroll reading.
Naver WEBTOON launched byUs, an AI-powered story chat service that lets users create stories by interacting with characters from creator-approved webtoon IPs. The service offers Original Stories and Fan Stories, with features like AI-suggested replies and contextual images. It launched with the webtoon Ctrl+Alt+Resign and is currently available only in Korea. The service follows the earlier Character Chat chatbot, which exceeded 100 million messages by June 2025.
Webtoon Entertainment's Webtoon Productions has partnered with French studio OuiDo! Productions to develop an animated series based on Emma Krogell's fantasy webtoon Lumine. The project will be introduced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival's Mifa market. Bryan Q. Miller will serve as showrunner and co-writer.
Naver Webtoon has launched Cuts Make, a new app that lets users create short-form animated videos using officially licensed webtoon IP. The app features Character Meme and Webtoon MV tools, with nine titles available at launch including Romance 101 and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. It is available on Google Play in Korea with an iOS release pending.
The 2026 World Webtoon Awards, organized by Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KOCCA, opened reader nominations from June 15 to July 24. The awards shift to a nomination-only system, introduce cash prizes for the first time, and add a category for international works. The ceremony is set for December 2 in Seoul.
WEBTOON and Paramount have released the first of two original Star Trek webcomic series, Stargazers and Recollection, as part of a partnership announced last September. Stargazers debuted on Sunday, while Recollection is set for later this summer. Both series feature new characters and stories within established Star Trek canon.