Line Corp., the Japan-based mobile messaging company under South Korea’s Naver, has officially stepped into the global game publishing business with the formation of a new subsidiary, Line Games.

The establishment of Line Games was announced Monday to broaden the scope of its game business, which had been limited to offering Line messenger as a platform for featuring new mobile games.

Line Games will specialize in global game publishing services, which involve providing marketing and operations support to its clientele of game developers.

It marks a step forward from Line’s previous role as a platform provider, through which Line messenger served as a marketplace featuring new mobile games to users in Line’s core markets in Asia including Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia.

“By entering the publishing segment, Line is taking its game business a step further beyond its platform business,” a Naver official told The Korea Herald.

As part of its move, Line Games also acquired a 51 percent stake in Korean game company NextFloor, the developer of hit mobile games including “Dragon Flight” and a publisher of major mobile hits including “Destiny Child“ and “Crystal Hearts.’’

With Line’s acquisition, the founding CEO of NextFloor Kim Min-gyu will step up as the new chief of Line Games, according to Line.

Under Kim’s leadership, Line Games plans to leverage NextFloor’s game operations and publishing expertise to emerge as a strong player in the global game publishing business.

“NextFloor’s game development and operations know-how will greatly contribute to the advancement of Line’s game business,” Line Corp. CEO Takeshi Idezawa said in a statement.

Line Games’ new CEO Kim pledged to strengthen the new partnership between Line and NextFloor to provide global users with games of all genres.

“With standout services and competitiveness, Line Games will strive to become a globally recognized game company,” said Line’s new CEO Kim.

The formation of Line Games comes four years after its parent company Naver separated out its game business. In 2013, Naver carved out its game business NHN Entertainment as an independent company, led by Chairman Lee Joon-ho.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)