NCSoft acquires majority stake in Berlin-based JustPlay for $202 million

The deal was initially announced in March 2026 and completed at the beginning of June. JustPlay will continue to operate independently while gaining access to NCSoft’s international reach, technological resources and extensive games industry expertise.

JustPlay was founded in Berlin in 2020 by former AppLovin employees Carl Livie, Gil Mincberg and Mirko Aquaro. Unlike many games startups, the company was built without venture capital and financed its growth through its own operations. Today, JustPlay employs around 110 people worldwide, including approximately 50 at its Berlin headquarters.

The company operates a mobile platform that combines casual games, advertising and a digital rewards system. Players can use the JustPlay app to access a portfolio of more than 40 games, view advertisements and collect points. These points can be exchanged for PayPal credit, gift cards or donations to charitable organisations.

Rather than adding rewards as a temporary marketing feature, JustPlay has built them into the centre of its business model. The company manages the games, advertising technology, payment infrastructure, data analysis and reward system as one integrated ecosystem. This allows part of the advertising revenue generated through player activity to be returned to the users.
JustPlay now operates in more than 25 countries. According to the company, its app has been downloaded more than 50 million times and more than $200 million in rewards have been paid out to users since its launch. The platform is particularly successful in North America, which accounts for around 70 percent of its revenue. More than 500,000 people reportedly use its services every day.

JustPlay generated revenue of approximately $172.8 million in 2025 and reported a profit of around $19.1 million. For 2026, the company expects revenue to exceed $300 million, representing year-on-year growth of more than 80 percent.

The team’s ambitions extend even further. Founder and CEO Carl Livie believes that an annual revenue run rate of $500 million by the end of 2027 is achievable. JustPlay plans to expand into additional markets, strengthen its games portfolio and further develop the rewards experience for its users.

The company also intends to explore how its technology could be used beyond mobile gaming. Its long-term goal is to establish rewarded engagement not merely as a tool for acquiring users, but as a sustainable part of digital products and user experiences.

NCSoft is one of South Korea’s best-known games companies and is behind franchises including Lineage, Aion, Blade & Soul and Guild Wars. The group is currently expanding its presence in mobile casual gaming and sees JustPlay as an important component of this strategy.

Through the acquisition, NCSoft gains access to a scalable platform that connects games content, advertising technology, data intelligence and user rewards. JustPlay, in turn, can draw on the group’s global experience and technological infrastructure while continuing to run its platform independently. Existing users are not expected to experience any immediate changes.

For JustPlay, the transaction is intended to mark the beginning of a new growth phase rather than the end of its startup journey. The company plans to continue investing in new games, product development and international expansion.
Having grown from a bootstrapped startup into a company valued at almost $290 million within six years, JustPlay demonstrates the international commercial potential emerging from GamesCapitalBerlin’s games and technology ecosystem. The acquisition also places another Berlin-founded games company at the centre of a major international industry deal.

Published 24 July 2026