When Naver completed its acquisition of serial fiction platform Wattpad earlier this year, many people wondered what this would mean for both companies. Prior to the deal, Wattpad boasted of a global audience of over 94 million users. Since Naver also owns Webtoon—a highly popular webcomic platform consisting of over 72 million users—it was speculated that we’d see more webtoon adaptations of popular Wattpad series. At the very least, it seemed a reasonable conclusion that the serial fiction platform would serve as a source of original IP for potential development.

We received an answer in June when both companies announced that they were merging their studio divisions to create Wattpad Webtoon Studios. The new venture would make products in multiple formats, including books, film, and TV. And in October, Wattpad Webtoon Studios unveiled their first planned projects: a film based on A. Rasen’s webtoon Gremoryland and two TV shows based on Wattpad series, Unholy Matrimony by xxinlove and I’m a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni.

If that weren’t enough, Wattpad Webtoon Studios also revealed a new global partnership with ViacomCBS International Studios earlier this month. The collaboration would develop original series based on hit content from Webtoon and Wattpad for ViacomCBS’s networks and streaming platforms like Paramount Plus. It’s safe to assume that Wattpad Webtoon Studios’ announced initial projects already have a future home.

Wattpad Webtoon isn’t just focusing on film and TV, however. In November, its recently formed publishing arm, the Wattpad Webtoon Book Group, launched a collaboration with Anna Todd’s Frayed Pages multimedia company. Anna Todd first found success on Wattpad with her popular serial After. The series would later be published in print by Simon and Schuster and adapted to film in 2019.

The new venture, dubbed Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books, would first release new works by Anna Todd. First off is a graphic novel adaptation of her After series, scheduled for release in Spring 2022. Following shortly thereafter are the first two installments of a new fiction trilogy in the summer and fall. Todd’s renewed relationship with Wattpad marks a bright future as many are interested in seeing what innovative projects come from one of the platform’s original success stories.

As the webtoon market in North America continues to expand, it comes as no surprise that Wattpad Webtoon Studios would enter the field. In mid-November, the company announced the formation of a new imprint, Webtoon Unscrolled. While the Webtoon platform reaches millions of readers worldwide via its digital apps, a large print market remains untapped. We saw this earlier this year with the print release of Chugong’s Solo Leveling from Yen Press, which was easily one of the biggest debut titles of 2021. Webtoon Unscrolled would bring some of the most popular webtoons to brick-and-mortar bookshelves in Fall 2022. The first slate of titles include:

• Tower of God by SIU about a young man who lives in the shadow of a mysterious tower and chooses to follow his one and only friend when she enters it.
• True Beauty by Yaongyi about a bullied teen who gives herself a makeover after binge-watching internet tutorials and catapults herself to the top of her new high school’s social hierarchy.
• Doom-Breaker by Blue-Deep about a fallen warrior who gets a second chance at life to avert humanity’s downfall.
• Cursed Princess Club by LambCat about a princess who encounters a group of outcasts who show her that she doesn’t have to fit the classic ladylike mold.
• Boyfriends by refrainbow about the polyamorous relationship between four college students.
• Everything Is Fine by Mike Birchall about an absolutely normal couple who lives in an absolutely normal neighborhood with absolutely nothing strange, creepy, or murderous going on.

Webtoon Unscrolled plans to release 12 titles a year.

That’s not all in terms of webtoon and webnovel content, though. K-Pop fans will rejoice with news of HYBE-inspired webtoons and webnovels being released on Wattpad Webtoon platforms, beginning next month. The new projects revolve around HYBE artists: Enhypen, Together x Together (TXT), and global sensation BTS. The series include:

• 7Fates: CHAKHO, a collaboration with BTS that follows 7 young men in a near-future urban fantasy setting that reimagines traditional South Korean tiger folktales and mythology.
• Dark Moon: The Blood Altar, a collaboration with Enhypen that follows a mysterious young woman as she navigates a world filled with vampires and werewolves in a teen romantic urban fantasy.
• The Star Seekers, a collaboration with TXT that follows the members of a boy band who live in a world where magic is part of everyday life.

Considering that most of these announcements were made in the final third of 2021, it’s apparent that Wattpad Webtoon intends to become not just a major player on the global stage, but also the North American English-language market. While dedicated fans of the original platforms are likely to follow these new developments with interest, the new ventures are sure to draw in new demographics that have been slow to adopt digital platforms. Who knows what new projects Wattwad Webtoon will deliver in 2022?