From Nexon Sub-Brand to Core Department... The Soaring Mintrocket

Elevated from Sub-Brand to Headquarters
Finding Growth Engine through 'Little' Development

Nexon's sub-brand ‘Mintrocket’ has risen to become a key department responsible for small-scale game development within the company. Despite the global success of the marine adventure game ‘Dave the Diver,’ instead of spinning off as a separate corporation, it has decided to release small but fresh projects in line with Nexon's ‘Big and Little’ strategy.

On the 23rd, Hwang Jae-ho, head of Nexon Mintrocket Division, stated, "To meet the diverse tastes of global gamers and rapidly changing trends, both large-scale games that require significant costs and manpower, and unique and challenging small-scale games must continue to target the market," adding, "We will present attractive and fresh projects befitting the ‘Little’."

Previously, Nexon reorganized its new game development strategy by restructuring the New Development Division into the ‘Big Game Division’ and elevating the sub-brand ‘Mintrocket’ under the New Development Division to the ‘Mintrocket Division.’ Park Yong-hyun, CEO of Nexon Games, was appointed head of the Big Game Division, and Director Hwang Jae-ho was appointed head of the Mintrocket Division.

According to the company's Big and Little strategy, the Big Game Division is responsible for developing large-scale new games, while the Mintrocket Division handles lightweight casual game development. The Big and Little strategy aims to generate revenue through large-scale projects with proven hit potential (‘Big’) while seeking new growth engines by developing unique and trendy games created by small teams (‘Little’).

Mintrocket achieved success by releasing ‘Dave the Diver (Dave).’ Dave is a marine adventure and management simulation console game that became the first domestic single-package game to surpass 3 million cumulative sales, among other commercial successes. It also received a score of 90 on the U.S. game review site ‘OpenCritic,’ was selected as one of the top 10 games of 2023 by The New York Times, and ranked 5th in The Guardian’s best games list, earning critical acclaim.

Hwang explained, "Dave was recognized globally as an original game because the development team appropriately expressed not only the gap between the fantasy theme of sea exploration and the reality of running a restaurant but also various satire and B-grade codes."

The elevation of Mintrocket to a division level is notable for internalizing development capabilities within the parent company, departing from the industry norm of ‘spinning off.’ As companies grow larger, the number of steps required for decision-making increases, making it difficult to reflect rapidly changing market conditions. Therefore, it is common to spin off in-house development studios or brands that show potential for success and grow them independently.

Regarding the possibility of Mintrocket spinning off, Hwang said, "It is too early to discuss this topic right now," adding, "Once the shape is somewhat established, there will be a time to discuss the optimal form."

The Mintrocket Division plans to focus on expanding the IP and platforms of Dave and discovering new titles. Hwang said, "We are preparing several projects with strong individuality for the expansion of the Dave IP," adding, "Although each director leads projects with slightly different colors, we aim to secure both the uniqueness and high completeness expected of Mintrocket as the brand's highest value."