Devsisters

Market position

Devsisters is among the better-known South Korean mobile game companies internationally, with the Cookie Run franchise cited at over 200 million players worldwide and CookieRun: Kingdom reported to have surpassed 150 million downloads. In May 2013 the company ranked #10 among global publishers by monthly Google Play game revenue according to App Annie. Recognition includes Best Mobile Developer at the 2022 Pocket Gamer Awards and Best Ongoing Game in Google Play's 2023 honors. Analysts have flagged heavy dependence on a single game franchise as the company's principal risk.

The company's principal asset is the proprietary Cookie Run character IP, which it reuses across multiple genres — endless runner, social RPG, kingdom builder, top-down action, puzzle, real-time PvP — and extends into trading cards, Roblox, merchandise and offline events, rather than relying on licensed properties.

Technology

The company builds cross-platform titles for mobile, PC, console, VR and animation, and has publicly cited backend infrastructure able to handle peaks of about 60,000 transactions per second for its live games. Its web and service stack includes Amazon Web Services, Next.js, React, Node.js and Kakao integrations.

Go-to-market

Devsisters has historically distributed through dominant messaging and app platforms, launching Cookie Run on Kakao Talk in Korea in 2013 and globally through LINE Corporation in 2014, and reaching China via a publishing deal with iDreamsky. Current go-to-market centers on global self-publishing of Cookie Run titles on mobile app stores, supported by high-profile IP collaborations (for example a KPop Demon Hunters crossover in CookieRun: Kingdom), art collaborations, a Times Square pop-up that drew 10,000 visitors in two days, a planned Roblox version of the trading card game, and a 2026 CookieRun TCG World Championship in Seoul.

Global consumers of free-to-play mobile games, particularly players drawn to character-driven running, RPG, kingdom-building and puzzle titles, across Asia, North America and Europe, plus collectors and competitive players of the CookieRun trading card game.

Geography

Headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with international offices in Tokyo (Devsisters Japan), Taipei (Devsisters Taiwan) and San Mateo, California (Devsisters USA); these four locations include three development studios. Games are serviced globally, and overseas sales accounted for 69% of revenue in Q1 2025.

History

After early utility and entertainment apps, the company pivoted to games following the success of OvenBreak, which passed 10 million downloads and ranked as the top free App Store app in 20 countries by 2011. Com2uS made a first investment of KRW 1 billion in 2010, followed by KRW 4 billion from SoftBank Ventures and MVP Capital in June 2011; headcount grew from 10 to 52 in a year and to 64 by June 2012. Follow-up titles did not repeat OvenBreak's success and by 2013 the team had shrunk to about 12 people. Refocusing on Korea, Devsisters released Cookie Run on Kakao Talk on April 2, 2013; it became the top-grossing Google Play game and #6 on the App Store in May 2013, reached 10 million downloads in 12 weeks, and lifted annual sales to KRW 61.7 billion with KRW 22.3 billion net profit in 2013, up from KRW 800 million revenue in 2011. LINE Corporation launched Cookie Run globally (excluding China and South Korea) on January 29, 2014 in five languages, exceeding 10 million downloads in 30 days and 20 million by April 4, 2014; combined versions peaked near 10 million daily active users, and by April 2016 LINE Cookie Run had 55 million cumulative downloads versus 26 million for the Kakao version. A 2013 deal with Chinese publisher iDreamsky for a WeChat release was cancelled after a month-long open beta from December 2014 failed to meet Tencent's platform requirements. NHN Entertainment bought a 22% stake for KRW 5.6 billion in October 2013, 7.4 percentage points of it from Com2uS, and went on to publish the puzzle title Cookie Run Munjil Munjil on May 27, 2014. Devsisters listed on KOSDAQ in October 2014 and founded Devsisters Ventures in May 2015. More recently the company reported layoffs of roughly 40 employees in early 2023 amid slowing growth in core titles, and introduced a revamped executive framework in April 2025.

Risks & controversies

Analysts have long noted the company's dependence on a single game franchise as its biggest risk, a concern first voiced publicly by a Yuanta Securities analyst in late 2014. Earlier investment rounds in 2010–2011 did not translate into new hits, and The Bell cited Devsisters as an example of a mobile game developer whose investments had not paid off; headcount fell to about 12 by 2013. In early 2023 the company laid off roughly 40 employees amid slowing growth in core titles, and it has faced player backlash over update content perceived as culturally insensitive, responding with apologies and revisions in some cases. Its Chinese launch via iDreamsky and WeChat was cancelled in 2015 after the open beta failed to meet Tencent's platform requirements.