Webtoon (platform)

"WEBTOON" redirects here. For the comic format, see Webtoon.

Webtoon
Type of site
Webtoon platform
Available inMultilingual
Traded asNasdaq: WBTN
Founded2004 Original, 2014 English, 2017 Company
Owner
Created byJunKoo Kim
ParentWebtoon Entertainment
URLKorean website
English website
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched
  • 2004 Korean
  • 2013 Japanese (Line Manga launched)
  • 2014 English, Thai, Mandarin, Cantonese
  • 2015 Indonesian
  • 2019 Spanish, French
Current statusActive

WEBTOON[a] (stylized in all caps) is an American-South Korean webtoon platform launched in 2004 by Naver Corporation, providing hosting for webtoons and compact digital comics. The platform, controlled by Naver and the Naver-SoftBank Group joint venture LY Corporation through a Delaware-domiciled, Los Angeles, California-headquartered holding company WEBTOON Entertainment Inc.,[1] is free and can be found both on the web at Webtoons.com and on mobile devices available for both Android and iOS.[2]

The platform first launched in South Korea as Naver Webtoon and then globally as Line Webtoon in July 2014, as the Naver brand is not well known outside of South Korea and some of its services are also not available outside of the country. The service gained a large amount of traction during the late 2000s and early 2010s. In 2016, Naver's webtoon service entered the Japanese market as XOY and the Chinese market as Dongman Manhua.[3][4] On December 18, 2018, Naver closed XOY and migrated all of its translated and original webtoons to Line Manga, its manga service that offers licensed manga.[5] In 2019, Line Webtoon was changed to Webtoon in English; Spanish and French versions were launched.

The platform partners with creators to publish original content under the Webtoon Originals[6] banner and hosts a number of other series on its self-publishing site, Canvas.[7] Line Webtoon comics can be discovered through the "daily system" function, along with being read and downloaded for free on computers and both iOS and Android devices.[8][9] In November 2020, Webtoon established a new subsidiary called Webtoon Studios for the purpose of licensing English-language properties.[10] In August 2022, it was reported that Wattpad Webtoon studios would expand with a new animation division.[11]


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  1. ^ "S-1". S-1. Retrieved September 20, 2024. WEBTOON is a Delaware corporation and was incorporated in 2016. Our principal executive offices are located at 5700 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 220, Los Angeles, CA 90036, and our telephone number at this address is (323) 424-3795. Our website is https://about.webtoon.com.
  2. ^ "An Interview With JunKoo Kim Creator of LINE Webtoon". Comic Bastards. February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  3. ^ "無料漫画アプリXOY ジョイが最強な3つの理由とおすすめ漫画3作品". October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "▷ Dongmanmanhua.cn Website statistics and traffic analysis | Dongmanmanhua". dongmanmanhua.cn.ipaddress.com.
  5. ^ "お知らせ :: XOY". xoy.webtoons.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "Notice :: WEBTOON". www.webtoons.com. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "WEBTOON Now - WEBTOON ORIGINALS". www.webtoons.com.
  8. ^ "An Interview With JunKoo Kim Creator of LINE Webtoon". Comic Bastards. February 27, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  9. ^ "[LINE] LINE Webtoon Released First on Android, Offers Free Comic Content on Smartphones | LINE Corporation | News". LINE Corporation. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  10. ^ "Webtoon Launches Production Arm Webtoon Studios, Sets Partnerships with Vertigo Entertainment, Bound Entertainment & Rooster Teeth". MSN.
  11. ^ "Wattpad Webtoon Studios Expands with New Animation Division, Multiple Hires". August 16, 2022.