Webtoon Comics Publisher Tapas Closes In March 2027 As Kakao Moves On

Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kakoa, tapas, Webtoon

Webtoon comics publisher Tapas closes its doors in March 2027 as Kakao moves on from English language publishing

Tapas, the major North American webtoon and web novel platform, is shutting down. Parent company Kakao Entertainment is terminating the service as part of a broader restructuring that consolidates its webtoon and web novel operations around KakaoPage. The news, first reported by Korean media outlets in late September 2026, has left creators and readers reeling, especially as official communication from Tapas itself has been limited. Kakao Entertainment has also sold Wuxia World back to its original founder, Jingping Lai, who returns as owner and operator, as part of a seemingly English-language exit entirely.

Kakao Entertainment bought Tapas in 2021 as part of a deal valued at roughly $800 million, alongside the web novel platform Radish, which closed in 2025. We should have seen this coming. At the time, the move was seen as a major push into the North American market during the webtoon boom. Five years later, the investment is being written off. Reports describe Tapas as a drag on earnings, with Kakao shifting focus toward its core Korean businesses and successful Japanese platform Piccoma.

Tapas launched in 2012 originally as Comic Panda and grew into a home for independent creators as well as licensed titles. It hosted more than 100,000 series from around 75,000 creators and amassed over 10 million registered users. Popular series available on the platform included Solo Leveling, Overgeared, Villains Are Destined to Die, The Beginning After the End, and Eisner-nominated works such as Leeanne M. Krecic’s Let’s Play.

Creators have expressed shock and frustration. Many learned of the closure through news reports or Discord rather than direct official channels. Independent authors have spoken of lost revenue streams, uncertain contracts, and the sudden disappearance of a community that supported their work for years. Readers face questions about access to purchased content, remaining in-app currency, and whether series will migrate elsewhere. Now, from one of the creators, Tapas has given them a closure date, March 2027.

• KJK-Comics @Kojewki: After a lot of unknowns, we just received an answer from Tapas. It’s one of the sites where I had gotten my start, and with this announcement, it will be closing its doors in March of 2027. However I will continue making Kuren!
• LU+ @WolfLu66: Since Tapas will be closing down, I’ll be moving the English RAW comics over to WEBTOON. Thank you all for your continued support! 😀
• Drevvy‎ @drevv_y: Damn, Tapas is closing down? My very first digital comic will now be removed from the face of the earth I can’t even save it bc I dont remember the password to my old acct HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
• Alan Bay@smallguydoodle Tapas might be closing down but you can still read my webcomic on Webtoon, Globalcomix, IG and here! 😀
• ala @Kirihara_Atom i know tapas is closing but i will be continuing to post the book until it shuts down and then when it’s gone gone i’ll be completely moving to either inkitt, novelcult or pinya.
• Reneri @Reneriii_ Long incoming B) I just want to go over all of the series I worked on while I was at Tapas now that it’s closing down, just so I have a record of it somewhere to look back on

Kakao has indicated it will provide more detailed information on timelines, content management, and settlements. Broader platform integration plans were expected to be outlined around the end of September 2026, with the overall consolidation targeted for the end of the year. The closure leaves Webtoon as the dominant player in the English-language vertical-scroll comics space and raises familiar concerns about platform dependency for digital creators.

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