Com2uS has secured three Japanese popular animation intellectual property titles with proven global fan bases at the same time. It appears to aim to broaden its mid- to long-term business base by using external IP that already has a global fan base at the original work stage as a growth pillar.

According to the industry on Sunday, new titles Com2uS is currently developing based on Japanese animation IP are "Tougen Anki Crimson Inferno", "Gachiakuta: The Game" (tentative title) and "I Left My A-Rank Party and Aim for the Depths of the Labyrinth With My Former Students" ("A-Rank Party"). All three titles were exhibited at "AnimeJapan 2026" held at Tokyo Big Sight in Japan on March 28 to 29, expanding touchpoints with global fans.

The closest to release, "Tougen Anki Crimson Inferno", is a turn-based role-playing game based on the TV animation "Tougen Anki". The original manga has surpassed 5.5 million copies in circulation, and the TV animation ranked fifth in Netflix's global non-English TV series category. Com2uS is preparing with a goal of launching in the early to mid part of the second half of this year.

"Gachiakuta: The Game" is a survival action RPG based on a manga serialised in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, and targets a 2027 release for PC and console platforms. "A-Rank Party", announced for the first time at AnimeJapan, is an IP with cumulative series sales of 1.8 million copies that expanded from a light novel to comics and a TV animation. A second season of the TV animation is currently in production, and Com2uS has signed a licensing agreement with Kodansha to handle development and global publishing. The three titles are structured across different genres and platforms, from a mobile turn-based RPG to a PC and console action RPG.

Mobile game exports fall for three years, strengthening external IP strategy

The move is directly tied to Com2uS' performance trend. According to its 2025 business report, revenue from mobile game export sales fell for three consecutive years, from 409.8 billion won in 2023 to 385.1 billion won in 2024 and 348.9 billion won in 2025. Over the same period, domestic mobile revenue rose from 135.7 billion won to 195.4 billion won, but it was not enough to offset the decline in exports, which account for more than half of total game sales. Total revenue in 2025 was 696.4 billion won, only a slight increase from the previous year’s 693.9 billion won.

Com2uS has relied on the "Summoners War" series as its core source of revenue. With the growth potential of its own IP in the global mobile market in a phase of stagnation, the judgement to bring in external IP that already has a global fan base to reduce hit risk is likely to have acted as a direct background to this expansion of external IP.

Chief Executive Nam Jae-kwan (남재관) said on a conference call to announce earnings on Feb. 12, "In 2026, we will focus on connecting the experience and preparations accumulated so far to tangible results." He directly presented new titles based on global IP, including "Tougen Anki" and "Gachiakuta", as key tasks for 2026. It is a direction to drive both revenue growth and improved profitability through external IP in a structure where the existing "Summoners War" and baseball game lineup provide a stable revenue base.

Repeated collaboration with Kodansha, localisation capability and R&D build an execution base

An execution base supporting the strategy is also being built. First is its localisation capability in Japan. In the case of "Tougen Anki Crimson Inferno", Com2uS Japan is proceeding with localisation work based on know-how built over more than 20 years of activity in the Japanese market. As all three titles are based on Japanese animation and manga, the structure targets Japanese fandom as the primary target and then expands globally. The Japanese subsidiary’s network functions as an entry foothold in this process.

It is also deepening IP partnerships. Com2uS secured Kodansha IP in succession, from "Gachiakuta" to "A-Rank Party", completing a second collaboration. Kodansha is a major Japanese publisher that holds many manga and light novel IP with global recognition through Weekly Shonen Magazine and other outlets. It is notable in that it is expanding the scope of cooperation rather than remaining a one-off contract.

Technology investment is also directly linked to this strategy. R&D results in its 2025 business report include items directly tied to animation IP game development, such as "Tougen Anki LoRA training model and character integrated dataset 구축", "Gachiakuta custom production tool research", "Subculture character research through diffusion model combinations" and "FMV subculture story-based planning research". The aim is to apply generative AI to external IP-based games to raise both production efficiency and quality. Com2uS' R&D spending in 2025 rose 14.6 percent to 136.3 billion won from 119.0 billion won a year earlier, and the ratio to operating revenue also increased to 19.6 percent from 17.1 percent.

An industry official said, "The execution base is being put in place, including localisation capability, partnerships and technology investment." The official added, "In the end, whether each title has a level of completeness that meets the expectations of the original fandom will determine the success or failure of the overall strategy."