Seismic news in the webtoon business today, with reports that Kakao Entertainment is shutting down Tapas, their North American entry into the vertical scrolling business.
According to content industry sources on the 22nd, Kakao Entertainment plans to send advance notices regarding the Tapas service termination to publishers and rights holders on the same day. The notice is expected to include the service shutdown timeline, plans for managing existing titles, settlement procedures, and other follow-up measures.
Kakao, one of Korea’s biggest media/entertainment companies, acquired Tapas in 2021 for about $800 million. At the time it was part of a “space race” between Kakao and Korean rival Naver/Webtoon to enter the North American market with the growing popularity of the mobile webcomic format – and possibly going public in the US, which Webtoon achieved in 2024. Kakao increased its investment by acquiring UGC prose platform Radish also in 2021, but shut that platform down last year.
Over the years Kakao invested heavily in various business mdoels for Tapas, as one point hiring an array of US editors including Jamie S. Rich, to create original content, but that initiative lasted less than a year.
While the webtoon format is popular, growth has stalled in the US due to a variety of factors, including repetitive contentm and rumors of Tapas shutting down had been circulating for a while.
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