Devsisters

Devsisters Corporation is a South Korean mobile entertainment and video-game company headquartered in Seoul. It is best known for creating and operating the Cookie Run franchise, a group of character-driven mobile games built around anthropomorphic cookie characters, accessible arcade mechanics, live-service updates, and a broader fictional universe. The company’s best-known releases include Cookie Run, Cookie Run: OvenBreak, and Cookie Run: Kingdom. The business originated in 2007 when co-founder Ji-hoon Lee established Extra Standard with the intention of developing educational and entertainment software. Limited capital led the young company to undertake contract work for larger businesses, after which it redirected its attention toward mobile applications. The operating business began using the name Moblier in 2009, while “Dev Sisters” initially appeared as a product and brand name. The corporate name was changed to Devsisters in April 2010. Devsisters was an early Korean participant in Apple’s App Store ecosystem. Because the iPhone was not officially available in South Korea when the company began and the Korean App Store initially lacked a game category, its early applications were designed with international users in mind. The company produced utility and entertainment applications before the success of OvenBreak encouraged it to concentrate on games. OvenBreak became a notable early mobile hit, reportedly exceeding ten million downloads and reaching the top free-app position in multiple countries. The company’s defining commercial breakthrough came with Cookie Run, released through KakaoTalk on April 2, 2013. Its integration with a major messaging platform helped the game spread rapidly in South Korea, where it became one of the country’s leading mobile titles. A global version distributed through LINE followed in January 2014, expanding the franchise across Asian and other international markets. The combined Kakao and LINE editions accumulated tens of millions of downloads and gave Devsisters a substantially larger audience than its earlier standalone applications. The Cookie Run success also transformed the company financially and strategically. Annual sales rose sharply in 2013, and Devsisters completed an initial public offering on South Korea’s KOSDAQ market in October 2014. NHN Entertainment acquired a significant minority stake in 2013, creating an opportunity for joint publishing and marketing projects. However, the company became heavily dependent on one franchise, and the original Cookie Run’s popularity weakened after its peak. Revenue declined in 2015, prompting investment in sequels, new formats, and additional intellectual property. Cookie Run: OvenBreak eventually entered limited testing in 2016 and received a wider international release later that year. Devsisters also experimented with games outside the core franchise, including the arcade title Tape It Up!, released in 2017. Its most important later release was Cookie Run: Kingdom, a role-playing and city-building game launched in January 2021. Kingdom broadened the franchise through character collection, narrative content, kingdom development, events, collaborations, and continuing live operations. A 2021 collaboration with Sonic the Hedgehog further demonstrated the company’s use of cross-brand events to support player engagement. Devsisters also operates through investment and development activities beyond individual game releases. In 2015 it announced Devsisters Ventures, an investment subsidiary intended to support startups and technology-related opportunities. The company’s brand strategy centers on distinctive character design, accessible mobile play, frequent content updates, and the extension of Cookie Run into a wider entertainment property. In 2021, a proposal to explore non-fungible-token services triggered strong community criticism; after fans organized opposition, the company stated that it would review the concerns and would not pursue activities fundamentally inconsistent with its values. Devsisters remains a publicly traded South Korean game company whose commercial identity is closely tied to the international growth and continuing operation of Cookie Run.

Devsisters traces its origins to 2007, when Ji-hoon Lee and associates established Extra Standard to pursue educational and entertainment software. The lack of sufficient capital made contract development the company’s principal activity in its earliest period. Lee subsequently redirected the business toward mobile applications and games. The operating company began using the name Moblier on January 2, 2009, with Lee as chief executive, Se-joong Kim as chief operating officer, and Min-woo Ryu as chief strategy officer. The “Dev Sisters” name initially appeared as a brand on mobile applications before becoming the company’s official name, Devsisters, in April 2010. The company entered the App Store market at an early stage. Since the iPhone was not yet available in South Korea and games were not initially offered in the Korean App Store, Devsisters looked beyond its home market. It produced utility and entertainment applications, including several small iOS products, before the performance of OvenBreak convinced management to focus more strongly on games. OvenBreak reportedly surpassed ten million downloads and reached the top free-app position in twenty countries by 2011. This result provided evidence that a Korean studio could build an international audience through smartphone distribution. Devsisters received an investment from Com2Us in 2010 and additional backing from SoftBank Ventures and MVP Capital in 2011. Its workforce expanded rapidly during this period, although the company struggled to reproduce OvenBreak’s success with subsequent applications. Se-joong Kim left in January 2010 to establish Jellybus, and Min-woo Ryu departed in May 2012. Jongheun Kim joined as co-chief executive in March 2011. Despite the early funding and hiring growth, the business was described in contemporary commentary as having contracted to a much smaller team by 2013. The decisive turning point arrived on April 2, 2013, when Cookie Run was released through KakaoTalk. The game combined simple running mechanics with collectible characters and social distribution through a widely used messaging platform. It quickly became one of the highest-grossing mobile games in South Korea. Within twelve weeks it had reportedly reached ten million downloads on Kakao Game, and Korean downloads later doubled that figure. The title generated a sharp increase in annual sales and profitability during 2013. On January 29, 2014, LINE released an international version of Cookie Run in markets outside South Korea and China. The game was localized into several languages and rapidly reached the top of free-app rankings in a number of Asian territories. Its Kakao and LINE versions together reached a very large active-user base, turning Cookie Run into Devsisters’ central intellectual property. In 2013, NHN Entertainment announced a minority investment in Devsisters; the relationship subsequently included a joint publishing project, Cookie Run Munjil Munjil. Devsisters announced its public offering in September 2014 and began trading on KOSDAQ on October 6. In 2015 it created Devsisters Ventures, an investment subsidiary. The company nevertheless faced the strategic risk of dependence on a single aging title. Cookie Run’s popularity declined and reported annual revenue fell in 2015. Management responded by developing a successor, initially referred to as Cookie Run 2. The project was delayed from its planned 2015 window, then soft-launched in selected countries in September 2016 and released more broadly in October under the name Cookie Run: OvenBreak. The company also pursued projects outside the principal franchise. Tape It Up!, released in 2017, was described as its first non-cookie-based hit. The largest subsequent expansion was Cookie Run: Kingdom, launched on January 21, 2021. Combining role-playing, character collection, kingdom construction, and ongoing events, Kingdom developed Cookie Run into a broader entertainment universe. A Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration later in 2021 provided a prominent cross-brand promotion. In November 2021, Devsisters announced plans to incorporate NFT-related services into future projects. Fans objected strongly, citing environmental and blockchain-related concerns, and used the hashtag #StopCookieRunNFTs. The company responded that it valued community opinions, would examine the issues raised, and would not participate in activities fundamentally contrary to its stated values. The episode became a notable example of the challenges game publishers face when introducing blockchain initiatives to established player communities. Devsisters continues to operate as a public South Korean mobile-game company, with its commercial identity centered on the global Cookie Run franchise and live-service content.

• 2021

  Cookie Run: Kingdom launches

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  The franchise expands into role-playing, kingdom-building, narrative, and character-collection gameplay.

• 2016

  Cookie Run: OvenBreak launches

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  The delayed sequel receives a staged release before its wider international rollout.

• 2015

  Devsisters Ventures is established

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  The company announces an investment subsidiary focused on startup and technology opportunities.

• 2014

  Cookie Run expands through LINE

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  LINE distributes the game internationally with multilingual support.

• 2014

  Initial public offering

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  Devsisters begins trading on KOSDAQ under ticker 194480.

• 2013

  Cookie Run becomes a major Korean mobile hit

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  The KakaoTalk release of Cookie Run rapidly expands the company’s audience and revenue.

• 2010

  The company adopts the Devsisters name

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  The earlier “Dev Sisters” application brand is formalized as Devsisters.

• 2009

  Moblier begins operations

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  The operating company starts using the Moblier name and concentrates on mobile applications for an international App Store audience.

• 2007

  Extra Standard is founded

  [1]Devsistersen.wikipedia.org

  Ji-hoon Lee and associates establish Extra Standard to develop educational and entertainment software.

A character-led mobile game developer focused on accessible, colorful, globally distributed entertainment and long-running live-service franchises.

• Mobile game

  OvenBreak

  OvenBreak was an early mobile game that helped Devsisters move from utility and entertainment applications into game development. Its simple arcade format and broad international distribution made it an important predecessor to Cookie Run. The title reportedly exceeded ten million downloads and reached the top free-app ranking in multiple countries, giving the company its first significant evidence of product-market fit in mobile gaming.

• Mobile game franchise · 2013

  Cookie Run

  Cookie Run is Devsisters’ foundational character franchise. The original game was released through KakaoTalk in South Korea in 2013 and used social distribution, accessible running mechanics, collectible characters, and competitive scoring to encourage repeated play. A LINE edition launched internationally in 2014 with multiple language versions. The franchise became the company’s principal commercial and creative platform.

• Mobile action game · 2016

  Cookie Run: OvenBreak

  Cookie Run: OvenBreak is the sequel and successor to the original Cookie Run. After a delayed development period, it was soft-launched in selected markets in September 2016 and released more broadly the following month. It retained the franchise’s fast arcade-running foundation while extending the roster, progression systems, and live-service structure used to sustain a global audience.

• Mobile arcade game · 2017

  Tape It Up!

  Tape It Up! was a mobile arcade title and one of Devsisters’ efforts to develop a successful property outside the Cookie Run universe. It was released in 2017 and was identified by the company’s reference history as its first non-cookie-based hit, demonstrating an attempt to diversify its product portfolio.

• Mobile role-playing and city-building game · 2021

  Cookie Run: Kingdom

  Cookie Run: Kingdom launched in January 2021 and broadened the franchise beyond endless running. It combines role-playing combat, character collection, kingdom construction, narrative progression, events, and social features. Its stronger emphasis on story and world-building turned Cookie Run into a more expansive entertainment property and made Kingdom one of Devsisters’ most important releases.

• 2021

  Backlash over proposed NFT services

  Devsisters’ announcement that it planned to incorporate NFT-based services into future projects triggered strong opposition from fans. Critics raised environmental and blockchain-related concerns and promoted the #StopCookieRunNFTs hashtag. Devsisters subsequently said it would consider the community’s objections and would not engage in activities fundamentally inconsistent with its values.

  Source

Read more

• 2021Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration

  Global

  Cookie Run: Kingdom collaborated with Sonic the Hedgehog in connection with the franchise’s thirtieth anniversary. The event used crossover characters and themed content to attract attention and encourage engagement with the live-service game.

  Outcome. The collaboration extended Cookie Run: Kingdom’s promotional reach and illustrated Devsisters’ strategy of using recognizable entertainment properties in limited-time game content.

  Source

• 2021

  Expansion of Cookie Run into role-playing and kingdom buildingProduct launch

  Background

  Devsisters needed to extend Cookie Run beyond the established running-game format and create a deeper long-term service.

  Action taken

  The company launched Cookie Run: Kingdom, combining role-playing, character collection, narrative content, and city-building systems.

  Aftermath

  Kingdom became the franchise’s most expansive format and strengthened Cookie Run’s position as a broader entertainment universe.

  Source

• 2021

  Review of NFT plans after community criticismStrategy

  Background

  The company announced plans to consider NFT-based services, prompting criticism from players concerned about environmental effects and the compatibility of blockchain initiatives with the Cookie Run community.

  Action taken

  After public backlash, Devsisters stated that it would review the issues raised and would not participate in activities fundamentally contrary to its values.

  Aftermath

  The response paused the immediate controversy but made the NFT proposal a notable example of community resistance to blockchain features in established game franchises.

  Source

• 2015

  Investment in a Cookie Run successorStrategy

  Background

  The original Cookie Run’s popularity began to decline, exposing the company’s dependence on one aging title.

  Action taken

  Devsisters announced a sequel, initially referred to as Cookie Run 2, and pursued a global release strategy.

  Aftermath

  The project was delayed but ultimately launched as Cookie Run: OvenBreak in 2016.

  Source

• 2014

  International expansion through LINEStrategy

  Background

  Following Cookie Run’s domestic success, Devsisters sought to reproduce the model in markets where LINE was a major messaging and mobile-content platform.

  Action taken

  LINE launched a localized international edition of Cookie Run outside South Korea and China.

  Aftermath

  The game achieved rapid download growth and high free-app rankings in several Asian markets, significantly increasing the franchise’s international reach.

  Source

• 2013

  Shift toward messaging-platform distributionStrategy

  Background

  The company’s earlier international App Store strategy had produced OvenBreak, but it needed a larger and more efficient route to the South Korean market.

  Action taken

  Devsisters released Cookie Run through KakaoTalk, using the messaging platform’s social graph and game ecosystem to accelerate discovery and sharing.

  Aftermath

  The decision produced the company’s defining commercial breakthrough and made Cookie Run its central franchise.

  Source

1. 1Devsistersen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Devsisters official websitedevsisters.com