Wemade Chairman Park Kwan-ho (박관호) said the contract to sell all of his holdings was a decision to help Wemade make a leap in a bigger market.

Wemade said on Monday it signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) to sell all of Park’s Wemade shares. The total deal value is about 920 billion won. The acquisition is led by global investment platform NeoPulse, which has close ties with Alibaba and major Chinese game companies.

In an internal message on Monday, Park said, "I have signed an agreement (SPA) to sell the Wemade shares I hold." He added, "This agreement will only be executed once the final procedures and payment of the remaining balance are all completed." He said, "Nothing changes right away," and added, "Until then, I will continue to take responsibility for the company from this position and prepare this transition in the best possible way."

Park linked the decision to Wemade’s next stage of growth. He said, "It was a decision made after long deliberation, and at the center of that deliberation there was always Wemade’s 'next'."

Park said the competitive landscape in the game industry has shifted beyond the domestic market to focus on the global market. He said, "The game industry is no longer completed within a single country," and added, "The era of drawing the company’s future with only the Korean market has passed." He said, "Expansion into a bigger market is now not a choice but a condition for survival," and added, "I judged that now is the time to lay the groundwork for Wemade to make a proper leap on a bigger stage."

The core markets Park cited were China and North America and Europe. He said, "The MIR IP is still creating enormous value in China, and at the same time another big market in North America and Europe is waiting for us."

The investment rationale for the deal also aligns with that. NeoPulse cited Wemade’s MMORPG development capabilities and the competitiveness in China of its flagship intellectual property, MIR, as key reasons for the investment. It plans to work with Chinese game developers, publishers and IT companies to pursue development of new global titles and diversification of IP business models.

Park stressed the need for external partners and resources in the process. He said, "To fully convert these two pillars into our growth, we needed partners and resources commensurate with them," and added, "This decision is about opening a path for Wemade to move forward in earnest with those markets as its axis."

A shift to AI-based games was also presented as a key task. Park said, "AI is changing both how games are made and how they are enjoyed," and added, "The standards of completeness and quality that the market expects from games have risen higher than ever." He said, "We must become a company that leads this trend rather than being dragged by it," and added, "I believe Wemade is a company with that capability."

Park said of Wemade, "It is like a child to me," and added, "I have raised it with my own hands for a long time, and I have experienced both joy and pain together with this company." He added, "Before long, Wemade will face the time to become independent from me and grow impressively in a bigger and wider market," and said, "Just as parents send a fully grown child off into a bigger world, when that day comes I intend to step back and sincerely cheer on that growth."

Park said employees will be the driving force behind Wemade’s future growth. He said, "The people who will actually create that growth are you," and added, "In the journey of welcoming a new shareholder and moving toward a bigger market, each and every one of your roles will become even bigger and more important." He added, "The next chapter of Wemade will be written at your fingertips," and said, "I will continue to watch over you and Wemade’s leap more steadfastly than anyone, from this position now, and someday from afar."