WEBTOON Links AI Story Features to Broader IP Investment Push
WEBTOON reported $338.5 million in second-quarter revenue on Aug. 10 while outlining AI-driven fan features and new investments to extend webcomic intellectual property beyond its core platform. The company said its byUs story-chat service launched in Korea during the quarter, and disclosed a $40 million commitment to a $100 million adaptation fund plus an agreement to acquire up to 60% of RI Games Holdings. The moves pair audience interactivity with a broader franchise strategy.
WEBTOON Entertainment's Aug. 10 second-quarter update combined a modest financial result with a strategy to make its stories more interactive and to hold a larger economic stake when its intellectual property moves into other media. The company reported $338.5 million in revenue for the quarter ended June 30, a 2.8% year-over-year decline, and adjusted EBITDA of $5.5 million.
AI features are part of the audience plan
WEBTOON said it introduced byUs in Korea during the quarter. The service lets fans converse with characters and build stories in official worlds with creator approval. The company also highlighted AI-powered auto translation and short-animation experiments. Its shareholder letter said byUs launched with the webcomic *Ctrl+Alt+Resign*; it described early engagement figures, but those are company-reported results rather than an independent measurement of product impact.
The important distinction is that the announcement describes product experiments and engagement goals, not a claim that AI has improved the company’s overall financial performance. WEBTOON’s revenue update still showed declines in paid content and IP adaptations, partly offset by advertising growth.
Investment expands the franchise pipeline
Separate disclosures show how WEBTOON is pairing those product changes with investments in adaptations. In July, the company committed $40 million as a 40% limited partner in the $100 million NW Webcomic Adaptation Fund, with NAVER affiliate N Investment committing the other $60 million. The fund is intended to invest in adapting NAVER webcomic intellectual property into audiovisual and other media.
WEBTOON also disclosed an Aug. 6 agreement to acquire up to 9,000 shares of RI Games Holdings for aggregate consideration of about KRW 150 billion. The deal is structured in two closings and, if completed, would give WEBTOON roughly 60% of the South Korean game developer. For practitioners tracking entertainment AI, the update is a reminder that interactive features are being developed alongside, rather than separately from, the commercial systems that turn a story into a cross-format franchise.
Key Points
- 1WEBTOON reported $338.5 million in second-quarter revenue and $5.5 million in adjusted EBITDA on Aug. 10, 2026.
- 2The company said byUs, an AI interactive story-chat service, launched in Korea during the quarter alongside other AI-powered creative and translation features.
- 3WEBTOON committed $40 million to a $100 million webcomic-adaptation fund and disclosed an agreement that could give it about 60% of RI Games Holdings after two closings.
Scoring Rationale
The disclosures show how a large digital-storytelling platform is combining AI-led audience features with ownership and adaptation investments. The claims are bounded to company and regulator records, with company-reported engagement figures clearly attributed.
Sources
Primary source and supporting public references used for this report.
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