Neptune said on Sunday it has made an equity investment in hybrid casual game developer Albus. The investment gives Neptune a 9.1 percent stake in Albus.

Albus, founded in 2020, is a mobile game developer focused on the hybrid casual genre. Its flagship titles "Waterpark Boys" and "Awesome Park" recorded 40 million global cumulative downloads within two years of launch.

Hybrid casual is a genre that combines intuitive, lightweight gameplay with progression systems. It is characterised by boosting user immersion and maximising revenue through in-app advertising and payments.

Neptune said it highly values Albus' ability to design games based on advertising revenue and its fast release cycle. A graphic style and development capabilities optimised for global users also contributed to the investment decision.

The two companies plan to unveil a new title in the first half of this year through a publishing agreement. Neptune will push ahead in earnest with its hybrid casual game business by linking it with its existing adtech business. To that end, it plans to set up a dedicated internal organisation and continue related activities, including holding a global open competition within the year.

Kwon Seung-hyun (권승현), head of Neptune's hybrid casual game business division, said, "We will deliver tangible results by combining Albus' development know-how with Neptune's adtech monetisation experience."