Lionheart Studio

Lionheart Studio Corp. is a South Korean game development studio founded in 2017 and headquartered in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, best known for creating the Norse mythology-themed MMORPG Odin: Valhalla Rising, which Kakao Games published for mobile and PC starting in June 2021 and which became one of South Korea's top-grossing mobile games. The studio is led by founder Kim Jae-young, who serves as representative director, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board.

Kakao Games became Lionheart Studio's largest shareholder in November 2021, acquiring a 51.95% stake in the developer behind its hit title, and the South Korean publisher's holding had grown to a combined stake of roughly 55% by the time Kakao Games disclosed the figure in 2023. Lionheart Studio has continued to operate as a separately managed subsidiary with its own board and executive team, developing titles that Kakao Games then publishes globally, rather than being folded directly into Kakao Games' own corporate structure.

Lionheart Studio pursued a KOSDAQ initial public offering in 2022, filing a securities registration statement in September and targeting a November listing with an indicative price band of KRW 36,000 to KRW 53,000 per share that implied a valuation near KRW 4 trillion, before withdrawing the offering in October 2022 amid public backlash over Kakao-affiliated companies pursuing so-called split listings. The company revived its listing plans by 2025, with reports citing an expected valuation approaching KRW 5 trillion, while also expanding its lineup beyond Odin with new titles and a follow-up MMORPG, Project Q, later unveiled publicly as Odin Q: Valkyrie's Call, developed with Kakao Games again serving as global publisher.