Naver Webtoon said a pilot of “simultaneous serialization” that removes the publication time gap between its Korean and global services showed clear effects in protecting creator income.

On Monday, Naver Webtoon said it aligned the comeback timing on its Korean-language service and global-language services for some Korean original webtoons set to return after a hiatus and analysed the impact on revenues.

The pilot covered four titles serialized globally in multiple languages including English, French, Thai and Indonesian: “A Child Like Me”, “Contract Civil Servant”, “Lee Seop’s Romance” and “Childhood Friend Complex”.

The analysis showed that all titles that ran under simultaneous serialization saw sharp increases in seven-day payments and weekly readers after returning, compared with the eight-week average before the hiatus.

Global-service payments rose the most for “Childhood Friend Complex”, up about 208 percent. “A Child Like Me” rose 124 percent, “Contract Civil Servant” 96 percent and “Lee Seop’s Romance” 38 percent, with all four topping their pre-hiatus indicators. Weekly readers rose the most for “Lee Seop’s Romance”, up 82 percent from before the hiatus. “A Child Like Me” gained 44 percent, “Contract Civil Servant” 37 percent and “Childhood Friend Complex” 19 percent, demonstrating the effect of simultaneous serialization in bringing in readers.

Kim Yong-soo (김용수), president of Webtoon Entertainment, said simultaneous serialization requires close collaboration between creators and the platform. He said the company would work to protect revenues lost to illegal sites while minimising creators’ burden by building a fast and efficient translation support system.