Korean online and offline game studio startup Cardmonster has secured pre-seed investment from 500 Global and Mashup Ventures. Targeting both offline and online game markets, Cardmonster employs a strategy of testing various games offline before transitioning them online to increase their success rates.

While the domestic game industry has traditionally focused on RPGs, Cardmonster is concentrating on developing board games and TCGs (trading card games) to reflect the growing popularity of casual, puzzle, and turn-based strategy games. During development, the company plans to test the online versions of their games using their proprietary tabletop simulator. Currently, they are working on an in-house game utilizing Disney IP. Through a licensing agreement with Walt Disney Korea, they have the rights to develop games, toys, stationery, and merchandise featuring Disney characters, with the aim of expanding into both domestic and global markets.

Koo Hyun-mo, an investment manager at 500 Global, expressed confidence in Cardmonster’s potential, stating, “With Cardmonster’s in-house game development capabilities, we expect them to create a virtuous cycle of meeting the public’s casual game needs and securing more IPs, thus growing into a global game studio.” He added, “We plan to actively support their overseas expansion through 500 Global’s programs and network.”

Son Soo-hyun, CEO of Cardmonster, who has built his career as a game designer and producer at Nexon, PUBG, and Krafton, founded the company out of his passion for tabletop games and a desire to propose more efficient game development methods. CEO Son stated, “With this investment, we will develop innovative games across various genres with a new approach and establish ourselves as a competitive studio in the global market.”