In Brief:
- KOSDAQ-listed Nexus is acquiring ONE Store, the South Korean app marketplace founded by SK Telecom, KT, LG U+ and Naver with more than 38 million installs. SK Square, Naver and Krafton are making strategic investments into Nexus as part of the deal.
- Nexus plans to convert ONE Store domestically into a full-stack game hub with webshop, payments, community, questing and LiveOps tools, then launch a global version as the first Web3-native game store with built-in wallets, stablecoins, DEX access, staking and bridges.
- An AI-native platform layer will handle discovery and curation across both fronts, designed to manage the volume of human-created and AI-generated games at scale.
Nexus is acquiring ONE Store, South Korea’s homegrown app marketplace, in a deal that brings the CROSS gamechain operator a distribution platform with more than 38 million installs and a direct path to both domestic and global game store ambitions.
ONE Store was founded in 2016 by Korea’s three major telecom operators, SK Telecom, KT and LG U+, alongside internet portal Naver. Games are a core category. As part of the acquisition, SK Square, Naver and Krafton are making strategic investments into Nexus to ensure continuity of ONE Store’s existing business, partnerships and ecosystem.
Domestic game hub
The near-term plan is to reshape ONE Store from a conventional app marketplace into a dedicated game hub. Nexus intends to bring its full-stack game platform into ONE Store, including its webshop, payments, community, questing, streaming and rewards infrastructure built through the CROSS ecosystem.
For players, the goal is a single app covering discovery, play and community. For developers, it means an end-to-end LiveOps solution spanning user acquisition, community management, in-game economy operations and long-term title growth. Expansion beyond Android to iOS is planned over time.
Global Web3 game store
The global version of ONE Store is where blockchain enters. Nexus is positioning it as the first Web3-native game storefront, built to onboard Web3 games without requiring developers to strip out blockchain features to comply with restrictive platform policies.
Wallets, stablecoins, DEX functionality, token swaps, staking and bridges will be built natively into the app. The target is a single global build platform that supports any game, any chain and any market.
AI-native discovery
Both the domestic and global storefronts will run on an AI-native platform layer designed to handle discovery and curation at scale. Nexus framed the need around the volume problem: as AI tools accelerate game production, the number of new titles entering the market will climb sharply, and traditional review and curation processes won’t keep pace.
Business continuity
ONE Store’s existing content distribution lines, including games, apps, webtoons and web novels, carry forward. Relationships with telecom operators and key partners remain in place.
Deal context
“We will deliver a more enjoyable experience to players and a more powerful solution to game developers,” Henry Chang, CEO of Nexus, said. “As we meet the paradigm shift driven by AI and blockchain, we will push forward relentlessly until we achieve our vision of becoming the world’s No. 1 game platform.”
No financial terms were disclosed. Nexus described the acquisition as a defining catalyst for the company and the CROSS project rather than a finish line, with full integration ahead.
