Comics
Dark Horse Comics Creates Games Division For Potential ‘Hellboy’, ‘300’ Games
Count Dark Horse Comics as the next company to dip into video games. Per Gematsu, Dark Horse Comics has established their own games division called Dark Horse Games, in what will see games being produced based on Hellboy, 300 and other Dark Horse Comics properties.
“We’ve spent the past thirty-five years developing a long list of original, fan-favorite IP with many of the best partners in digital entertainment,” said Dark Horse Comics founder and president Mike Richardson in a press release. “Now is the perfect time to expand our vision into gaming. Dark Horse Games gives us exciting new ways to engage with fans of all kinds on a multitude of platforms.”
Dark Horse Games appears to aim to develop games in-house, as well as partner up with “some of the world’s top gaming studios” to create “AAA licensed titles based on Dark Horse Comics’ vast library,” across multiple platforms, including consoles, PC, and mobile.
According to the press release, the in-house games will focus on older and less established Dark Horse Comics titles as potential video game properties. There are also plans to produce and release multimedia projects alongside in-house games. As a result, Dark Horse Games is already in talks with “the world’s top game co-development studios and content production studios,” with the first in-house project already in production.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.