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Webtoon Market in Korea Slows Sharply in 1st Half of 2025 as Platforms Consolidate
posted on by Wonhee Cho
South Korea's webtoon industry showed clear signs of slowdown in the first half of 2025, with fewer titles being released and several smaller platforms exiting the market. The result is a deeper concentration of content and revenue among top platforms.
According to the “H1 2025 Comics and Webtoon Distribution Statistics” report released on August 17 by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), 8,123 webtoons were registered in the first half of the year, down 17.9% from 9,889 during the same period in 2024. New releases fell even more sharply: 5,543 titles launched, a 26.4% drop, while unique new series (excluding cross-posting) declined 15.5% to 2,322.
Industry analysts point to structural pressures such as worsening profitability, rising production costs, and heavy genre concentration. Revenue-sharing models between platforms and creators, combined with slowing advertising and subscription growth, have squeezed studios' margins. At the same time, labor, outsourcing, and marketing costs continue to climb across the production chain.
Platform restructuring has also accelerated. As of mid-2025, the agency tracked 34 platforms, though several have already shut down or announced closure plans. Peanutoon ended service on February 28, and Spoon Comics on March 31. Comico will close on October 31, while BuffToon is set to shut down on December 17. 10 other platforms — including Daum Sports Cartoons, DiaToon, Talk Soda, and Postype — reported zero new uploads in the first half of the year.
Among active platforms, Naver Series led with 1,175 titles, followed by Lezhin Comics (1,159) and Nate Toon & Book (665). In terms of new title ratios, kakao Webtoon (97.2%), Naver Webtoon (93.4%), and Joara (91.2%) ranked highest.
Despite the overall downturn, a few platforms saw growth. Watcha nearly doubled its registered titles (up 118.7%) and expanded new releases by 72.4%. Ktoon and Mr. Blue also posted double-digit growth. Analysts attribute this to a stronger focus on niche markets, adult content, and in-house production. In fact, adult-rated works (18+) accounted for 63.4% of all webtoons registered in the first half of the year, and 59.5% of new launches.
Outside webtoons, the broader comics sector remained mixed. Print comic book releases rose slightly to 2,256 volumes (up 2.2%), but digital comics declined 4.5% to 4,357 volumes. The combined total fell 2.3% year-over-year to 6,613 volumes.
The report concluded that the industry has entered a structural adjustment phase:
The 2025 statistics show that the comics sector is continuing negative growth following 2024. The industry has clearly entered a period of restructuring, and diverse strategies will be needed to overcome this slowdown.
Source: KOCCA
