BookWalker's Isabell Castro Discusses Tapas Closure and File Portability
Castro, a former Tapas staffer now at BookWalker, spoke to CBR about the webtoon industry and LCP-based downloads after Tapas announced it will close.
Isabell Castro, now a senior marketing manager at BookWalker and a former community director at Tapas, discussed the webtoon industry and file portability in an interview with CBR, following Tapas' announcement that it will close. Tapas made the closure public on October 1 and will shut down access to its catalog on March 31, 2027.
The platform has around 400,000 users. Tapas opened in 2016 and was bought by Kakao Entertainment about five years later. According to CBR, rumors of the closure surfaced roughly a week before the company's public announcement.
Castro worked at Tapas for five years before moving to BookWalker. In the interview she addressed the wider difficulties facing the webtoon business, where COVID lockdowns had created inflated growth expectations for the industry.
BookWalker supports LCP, which lets users download .lcpl and EPUB files and read them in LCP-compatible apps — a form of portability that matters to readers as a platform prepares to go offline.
What readers keep
With catalog access ending on March 31, 2027, the discussion centered on how readers can retain material they have bought or downloaded. The CBR interview was conducted by Brett Cardaro.
Quick answers
When is Tapas shutting down?
Tapas announced the closure on October 1 and will shut down access to its catalog on March 31, 2027.
How many users does Tapas have?
Tapas has around 400,000 users.
What file formats does BookWalker support?
BookWalker supports LCP, letting users download .lcpl and EPUB files and read them in LCP-compatible apps.