Tim Alper iGaming Journalist
Tim Alper is a journalist covering betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats, with a focus on regulatory developments and international markets. He reports on breaking stories across Europe and Asia, including gambling law changes and...
Read Full BioWeMade, the South Korean gaming firm behind the Legends of Mir video games, is set to expand deeper into iGaming through its affiliate, Play Links.
The firm said it will begin a “full-scale expansion into overseas markets this year,” with slots-related social media titles already in the pipeline, according to the South Korean media outlet Biz Tribune.
The developer has already developed five slots-related titles. But it says it is now working on a new, larger slots release, in addition to card-based gambling games.
Play Links is a subsidiary of WeMade’s WeMade Play affiliate, which specializes in social media games.
WeMade Play is most famous in South Korea for its Anipang and Aqua Story titles for chat apps such as KakaoTalk.
WeMade: iGaming Move
Play Links has already dipped its toes into the iGaming sphere with five social media-based slots titles that reportedly have over one million daily users.
But the firm said its latest move will mark its biggest iGaming release to date. The firm teased the launch of a new game, Slotopolis, featuring “collectible” items.
The firm will also branch out into other forms of iGaming, besides online slots. The company said it would “diversify its genres” by launching card- and puzzle-based games “with competitive elements.”
The company said its new range of titles will make its debut in the third quarter of the financial year.
The recently appointed Play Links CEO Seok Jeong-won said his firm will “settle into the market this year and demonstrate tangible sales effects.”
Video games that feature real-money betting and withdrawals are illegal in South Korea.
But the firm said it wants to tap into the iGaming market’s European and North American heartlands, aware that the industry is worth approximately $100 billion.
The company added that it “plans to foster mid- to long-term growth” by supplying slots titles “via collaboration with authorized distribution partners.”
Crypto Expansion
The Legends of Mir role-playing game series was a major hit across Asia in the mid-2010s, particularly in China.
WeMade has since moved into the world of blockchain gaming and crypto, launching its own cryptocurrency, named WEMIX.
The firm has also begun sponsoring major South Korean women’s golf tournaments, offering players crypto prizes in place of cash.
Last month, police in the South Korean city of Busan arrested 23 people suspected of manipulating bets worth around $1.4 billion on illegal gambling websites.
The gang’s scheme helped them generate around $2.5 million worth of illicit profits, Busan police say.
