A few years ago, manhwa series were largely unheard of outside of countries like South Korea. They were largely overshadowed by stronger competitors, notably American comic books and Japanese manga. However, there has been a massive influx when it comes to fan interest in manhwa over the last few years, and because of that, we enjoyed the launch and expansion of various manhwa platforms for North America.
The biggest and most well-known one was Tapas, a company owned by Kakao Entertainment. Sadly, Tapas is now officially shutting down in 2026. Now, fans need to find a new platform to read their favorite manhwa, notably series like Solo Leveling, among others. Kakao Webtoon is also shutting down, which marks a dark year for fans of South Korean Comic Books.
Every year now, the interest in South Korean comic books, referred to generally as manhwa, has been growing. The global hype behind manhwa started when some anime adaptations delivered big hits. This includes series like God of High School and Tower of God. Most recently, the biggest hit that has solidified a place for itself among the best is A-1 Pictures and Aniplex’s magnum opus, Solo Leveling. Following the success of Solo Leveling, manhwa in general have achieved greater reach outside of South Korea. Overall, because of the increase in popularity of manhwa, the natural assumption was that Manhwa platforms were profiting and growing.
In North America, the biggest Manhwa platform is Tapas, which is owned by Kakao Entertainment, and it was first launched over a decade ago. Tapas started in 2012 as Comic Panda before rebranding as the app we know today, starting in 2016. Kakao Entertainment had great faith in the North American market, so much so that the company has invested 1.1 trillion Korean Won, or about 810 million USD, to expand its market and reach. Sadly, Kakao Entertainment has now officially revealed that Tapas, a fan-favorite online Manhwa platform, is officially shutting down. We don't know exactly when this will happen, but we do know its shutdown is scheduled for sometime in 2026. This is a major blow for fans of manhwa, as they will lose access to one of the most convenient apps out there for English chapters.
On top of that, Kakao Webtoon has also been confirmed to be shutting down. Kakao Webtoon is another major app for reading manhwa, albeit more focused on the South Korean market. For Kakao Webtoon, the blow isn't as bad, as Kakao Entertainment is simply planning to merge its content with its greater platform. It can be said that Kakao Entertainment as a whole is being restructured, and its focus is shifting outside of the English market.
The reveal that Tapas is officially shutting down was made on September 22, 2026, and it definitely came as a major shock for fans who believed that the manhwa industry was rapidly growing in North America and all around the globe. After this big reveal, many fans are wondering what exactly pushed Kakao Entertainment to shut down Tapas. Sadly, at the moment, there is no official statement as to why this is happening. Kakao Entertainment and Tapas have made no comment about what the reason for the shutdown is. Because of its downsizing of Kakao Webtoon and the shutdown of Tapas, it’s clear the company isn’t doing all too well. We don’t have recent numbers for Tapas, but in Q4 of 2023, the platform reported 46 billion Korean Won in earnings, or 34 million USD. For a platform like Tapas, this could be an underperformance.
It's possible that Kakao Entertainment in general has experienced losses over the last few years with its major investments, especially in the North American market. This comes as a surprise to fans who assumed the major success of Solo Leveling’s anime would translate into major success for Tapas and thus Kakao, who owns the rights to the IP. Overall, this is definitely an unfortunate time for fans of manhwa all around the world, especially for English readers.
The shutdown of Tapas could definitely have some repercussions on the manhwa industry as a whole. For one, with the exit of one of the two biggest companies from the North American market, apps like Webtoon could completely dominate. Webtoon could be incentivized to raise its prices with no more competition around. It's definitely possible that Kakao Entertainment will return eventually to the North American market with a new app, but whether that happens or not is still to be seen. In recent years, no series besides Solo Leveling has been able to gain enough traction to keep the genre as a whole going strong.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/solo-leveling-platform-tapas-kakao-shutting-down/
