Krafton Inc. ( ko, 주식회사 컴퍼니 크래프톤) is a South Korean video game
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
based in
Bundang-gu
Bundang-gu is the largest and most populous district ('' gu'') of Seongnam, a major city in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea. Bundang-gu is one of South Korea's wealthiest and highest developed areas, being the nation's first and largest com ...
,
Seongnam
Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential ci ...
. It was created in November 2018 to serve as the parent company for Bluehole, founded by Chang-Byung-gyu in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
in March 2007, and its subsidiaries. The company has produced or owns to rights to several notable video game titles including ''
TERA
TERA is a shielded twisted pair connector for use with Category 7 twisted-pair data cables, developed by The Siemon Company and standardised in 2003 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) with the reference IEC 61076-3-104.
Th ...
'', ''
PUBG: Battlegrounds'', ''
New State Mobile
''NEW STATE Mobile'' (formerly ''PUBG: New State'') is a futuristic style multiplayer online battle royale video game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game was released on November 11, 2021, for iOS and Android through ...
,'' and ''
Moonbreaker
''Moonbreaker'' is an upcoming turn-based strategy video game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment and published by Krafton. The game was released via early access on September 29, 2022 for Microsoft Windows. The game was described by the ...
''. According to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'', Chang has a net worth of $2.9 billion and is one of the seven gaming
billionaires in South Korea.
History
Following the success of ''
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a battle royale game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Royale'' (2000), is based ...
'' which had led to both investment from
Tencent Holdings
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
and expansion and acquisition of studios, Bluehole opted to establish Krafton on 5 November 2018 to serve as a
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
for its video game properties. "Krafton" was selected based on the names of
craft guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s of the Middle Ages.
Kim Chang-han, the CEO of the PUBG Corporation (current PUBG Studios) that developed ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'', was named as CEO for Krafton.
The company announced its plans to file for an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
in July 2021, filing its initial approval for listing on the
Korea Stock Exchange
Korea Exchange (KRX) is the sole securities exchange operator in South Korea. It is headquartered in Busan, and has an office for cash markets and market oversight in Seoul.
History
The Korea Exchange was created through the integration of Ko ...
in April 2021. The firm plans to raise (US$5 billion) at a market valuation of ().
The IPO was held on 10 August 2021; while its value dropped by 8.8% from the original asking price at the end of trading, it still ended with Krafton being valued at .
Shares of several
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and foreign video game companies, including
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
, which is the largest video game company in China and a provider for foreign companies to publish games in their country, fell due to new restrictions imposed by the
Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...
.
Video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
are viewed as an '
electronic drug' and a 'spiritual opium', especially
shooting videogames, which according to the Chinese government promote
violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...
. China is a very important market for video games due to its
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
, hence the collapse of companies is devastating for every videogame company, including Krafton.
Subsidiaries
Bluehole has acquired several development studios since its founding. On 5 November 2018, all subsidiaries were reorganized under one parent company: Krafton Game Union.
Bluehole Studio
![Bluehole Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Bluehole_Logo.svg)
Bluehole Studio was founded in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
in March 2007 by Chang Byung-gyu. Chang previously established
Neowiz in 1997, along seven other co-founders, moved on to found
search engine developer First Snow in 2005, and sold that venture in 2006. The company announced on 22 April 2015 that they had changed their name to simply Bluehole.
In August 2017, Chinese holding company
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
announced that it had, following a rejected acquisition bid, invested an undisclosed amount of money into Bluehole. Bluehole initially denied that any investment had been made, but later stated that they were in talks with Tencent in multiple partnerships, including the acquisition of an
equity stake
In finance, equity is ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets. For example, if someone owns a car worth $2 ...
in Bluehole by Tencent. Subsequently, Tencent acquired 1.5% of Bluehole for a total of . Tencent reaffirmed their intents to fully acquire Bluehole in November 2017. Korean magazine
The Korea Times
''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the '' Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacture ...
suggested that an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
, through which Bluehole would become a
public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...
, was "out of question" due to Chang Byung-gyu's position as
chairman of both Bluehole and the
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, 4IR, or Industry 4.0, conceptualizes rapid change to technology, industries, and societal patterns and processes in the 21st century due to increasing interconnectivity and smart automation. The term has bee ...
committee. At the time, 38 Communications, a company that tracks unlisted Korean stocks, valued the company at . Tencent plans to invest further to acquire further 10% ownership, raising their total stake to 11.5%.
PUBG Studios
![PUBG Studios Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/PUBG_Studios_Logo.svg)
PUBG Studios (formerly Ginno Games, Bluehole Ginno Games and PUBG Corporation) is an internal studio of Bluehole's that developed one of the establishing
battle royale game
A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who st ...
s, ''
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a battle royale game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Royale'' (2000), is based ...
'' (''PUBG''), based on
user mods in other games by
Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene
Brendan Greene (born March 29, 1976), better known as PlayerUnknown, is an Irish video game developer. He is best known for his work on '' PUBG: Battlegrounds''. He left active development on the game to form PUBG Special Projects and PlayerUnkn ...
and who was hired by PUBG Studios to develop it into a full title. Originally, Ginno Games had been founded by
Kim Chang-han to develop
MMOs, but around 2014, he had been forced to lay off a third of his staff as their last product had not performed well.
He sold Ginno Games to Bluehole on 27 January 2015, with the sale to close on 27 March that year.
At the time, Ginno Games employed 60 people.
Ginno Games changed their corporate name to Bluehole Ginno Games in May 2015. Shortly after Bluehole's acquisition in 2015, Chang-ha reached out to Greene to offer him support to build out his battle royale at Bluehole Ginno, which Greene accepted. ''PUBG'' was first released in
early access
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...
in March 2017 as a highly popular game. Following the success of ''PUBG'' in 2017, Bluehole Ginno Games was renamed PUBG Corporation in September 2017.
A second office was established in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
in late 2017, with two further offices in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
and
Japan opened later. On 12 March 2018, PUBG Corporation acquired
New York-based studio MadGlory, which was renamed PUBG MadGlory.
Greene, having been based in the Seoul offices of PUBG Corporation, left that division in March 2019 to lead a new subsidiary, PUBG Special Projects, at the
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
office, later renamed to PUBG Productions. PUBG Productions announced their first game ''Prologue'' at
The Game Awards 2019
The Game Awards 2019 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2019. The event was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Lo ...
in December. Unrelated to ''Battlegrounds'', ''Prologue'' is called an exploration of gameplay and technology, and said "to give players unique and memorable experiences, each and every time they play".
At the end of 2019
Tencent Games
Tencent Games () is the video game publishing division of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, itself a division of Tencent Holdings. It has five internal studio groups, including TiMi Studio Group. Tencent Games was founded in 2003 to focus on on ...
announced some big plans for
PUBG
''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a battle royale game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Royale'' (2000), is base ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
's upcoming future, as well as its general
eSports.
Krafton fully merged PUBG Corporation into their internal studio system in December 2020, rebranding the team as PUBG Studios.
On 9 November 2020, it was announced that Krafton will participate in ''
G-Star
G-Star (sometimes also written G*STAR, G★ or G★STAR; ) is an annual trade show for the video game industry presented by Korea Association of Game Industry and Busan IT Promotion Agency in November. Originally held in the Seoul Capital Area ...
2020'' to introduce their upcoming multiplayer online game
Elyon through ''Krafton'', an e-sports reality show where celebrities and streamers entered a special school that specialized in battlegrounds conduct episodes and talk related to PUBG Series 3. Celebrities
(G)I-dle's
Song Yuqi
Song Yuqi (, ko, 송우기; born September 23, 1999), known mononymously as Yuqi ( ko, 우기), is a Chinese singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. She is active as a soloist in China and is a part of the South Korean girl group (G)I- ...
and
Ailee
Amy Lee (born May 30, 1989), known professionally as Ailee, is an American singer and songwriter based in South Korea. Amassing digital sales success in South Korea, she has released four studio albums, six extended plays, and twenty one singles ...
and streamers Chyo Man and Choi Kwang-won appeared in the show.
In September 2020, the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
banned PUBG Mobile in the country along with several apps published by Chinese vendors, in this case Tencent Games, due to data privacy issues. To relaunch the game back in India, Krafton took back the control of
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
(IP) of the game for the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n region from Tencent. An aesthetically new version of PUBG Mobile,
Battlegrounds Mobile India, was launched on 2 July 2021 for
Android and on 18 August 2021 for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
. This time the game was published by Krafton, Inc.
In February 2021, PUBG Studios announced the development of
''PUBG: New State'', the second installment in the
''PUBG Universe'', set in the future (2051). Drones, shields, weapon customization, neon sights, reviving teammates and 'recruiting' knocked out enemies are just some of the new mechanics in ''PUBG: New State''. The game released on 11 November 2021, and reported through a presentation that to date the game had exceeded 55 million pre-registrations on
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...
and
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
. On 27 January, 2022, a name change was announced, going from being called "''PUBG: New State''" to being called "''New State Mobile''". According to Krafton this was done to create a unique mobile-centric experience, and through that change they were putting it into practice.
Striking Distance Studios
In June 2019, a new studio called Striking Distance was opened in conjunction with
Glen Schofield
Glen Schofield is an American video game artist, designer, director, and producer, he is currently the CEO of the Striking Distance Studios. He was formerly the vice president and general manager at Visceral Games, co-founder of Sledgehammer Games ...
, the co-founder of
Sledgehammer Games
Sledgehammer Games, Inc. is an American video game developer company formed in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. The pair formerly worked at Visceral Games and are responsible for the creation of ''Dead Space (2008 video game), Dead Sp ...
. Striking Distance, headed by Schofield as
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
, is set to develop narrative-driven games based on ''PUBG''. The studio's first game is ''
The Callisto Protocol
''The Callisto Protocol'' is a 2022 survival horror action video game developed by Striking Distance Studios and published by Krafton. It was directed by Glen Schofield, who had previously co-created the ''Dead Space'' series. The game's stor ...
'', a
survival horror
Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
game originally (but no longer) set within the ''PUBG'' universe. It was released on December 2 2022.
Striking Distance Studios is headquartered in
San Ramon, California.
RisingWings
RisingWings is a game development company formed by the merger of Pnix and Delusion. RisingWings is responsible for Archery King, Golf King, Castle Craft: World War and other mobile games. RisingWings in based in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
.
Dreamotion Inc.
Dreamotion is a South Korean video game development company founded in July 2016. They are the developer and publisher of GunStrider: Tap Strike, Road to Valor: World War II and Ronin: The Last Samurai, and others. Dreamotion was acquired by Krafton on 13 May 2021.
Dreamotion is headquartered in
Seal Beach
Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census.
Seal Beach is located in the w ...
, California.
Thingsflow
Thingsflow Inc. an interactive content production company known for Hellobot, a chat-based content platform that allows users to engage with bot-driven characters through dedicated apps and messenger services. As of May 2021, Hellobot has more than four million users throughout Korea and Japan. On 29 June 2021 this company was acquired by Krafton.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Unknown Worlds Entertainment is an American video game developer based in San Francisco. The studio is best known for the ''Natural Selection'' and '' Subnautica'' series. In October 2021, the studio was acquired by South Korean video game develo ...
, based in San Francisco, California, is a company founded in 2001 known for having developed games such as ''
Natural Selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
'' and ''
Subnautica
''Subnautica'' is an open-world action-adventure game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. The game has the player as a non-essential systems maintenance chief who is the only survivor of a spaceship crash on the alien planet ...
''. This company was acquired by Krafton in October 2021. In August 2022, it was announced that the company will develop ''
Moonbreaker
''Moonbreaker'' is an upcoming turn-based strategy video game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment and published by Krafton. The game was released via early access on September 29, 2022 for Microsoft Windows. The game was described by the ...
'', a turn based role-playing game which will be published by Krafton.
5minlab Corporation
5minlab is a South Korean company founded in 2013, known for developing Smash Legends, Baam Squad, Toy Clash, among others. It is also known for developing live Q&A broadcast systems and providing AR/VR software and content to large corporations and broadcast companies. This company was acquired by Krafton in February 2022.
Neon Giant
In November 2022, it was announced Krafton had acquired the
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Located north of the c ...
-based developer of ''
The Ascent'',
Neon Giant
Neon Giant AB is a Swedish video game developer headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden. It was founded by Tor Frick, Arcade Berg, Jonathan Heckley and Erik Gloersen in 2018.
History
Neon Giant was founded in April 2018 as an independent venture by ...
.
Defunct subsidiaries
L-Time Games
L-Time Games was founded in June 2009. The company attracted a and a investment from Knet Investment Partners and IMM Investments, respectively. L-Time Games was acquired by and merged into Bluehole in January 2014.
Maui Games
Maui Games was a mobile game developer founded in 2013 by Woonghee Cho,
previously head of
business development for Neowiz. Bluehole Studio announced on 16 January 2015 that they were acquiring the company, which was completed in October that year.
At Bluehole's January 2017 shareholders' meeting, it was decided that Maui Games would enter
liquidation, which was effective immediately.
Nine staff members of Maui Games, a fraction of that company's total employee count, were reemployed directly within Bluehole.
Pnix
Pnix (formerly Bluehole Pnix) was a
mobile game developer. The company was founded as Pnix Games in 2012. Bluehole announced that they had acquired Pnix Games, alongside Squall, on 22 April 2015.
Pnix Games changed their corporate name to Bluehole Pnix in June 2016. Corporate name again changed to Pnix in 2018 after being a subsidiary of Krafton. In 2020 Pnix was merged with Delusion to form a RisingWings.
Squall
Squall (formerly Bluehole Squall) was a mobile game developer. The company was founded as Squall by Park Jin-seok, a founding member of Neowiz, in 2013. Bluehole announced that they had acquired Squall, alongside Pnix Games, on 22 April 2015.
Squall changed their corporate name to Bluehole Squall in March 2016. Corporate name again changed to Squall in 2018 after being a subsidiary of Krafton. It was shut down by Krafton after internal conflicts in 2020.
Red Sahara Studio
Red Sahara Studio was a mobile game developer headed by Lee Ji-hoon.
On 12 March 2018, Bluehole completed the acquisition of the studio in a
stock swap deal. Red Sahara was developing a mobile game based on ''TERA''.
Delusion
Delusion Studio was founded in April 2011 and is headed by Kang Moon-chul. On 22 June 2018, Bluehole announced the acquisition of the studio. Delusion developed mobile games such as ''Guardian Stone'', ''Jellipo'', ''House of Mice'' and, most notably, ''Castle Burn''.
In 2020 Delusion was merged with Pnix to form RisingWings.
En Masse Entertainment
En Masse Entertainment
En Masse Entertainment, Inc. (formerly Bluehole Interactive, Inc.) was an American video game publisher. Founded in June 2008, the company was based in Seattle, Washington and is best known for publishing massively multiplayer online role-playi ...
was Krafton's North American publishing arm. The company was established as Bluehole Interactive in June 2008. On 26 February 2010, the company announced that it had changed its corporate name to En Masse Entertainment.
In September 2020, En Masse Entertainment announced that it would be shutting down its offices after 10 years of service in the gaming industry, where it was decided that Krafton would be publishing TERA's Console version globally - taking over a self-publishing role, in place of En Masse Entertainment, whereas the PC version would be published by
Gameforge
Gameforge is a video game publisher and video game developer. It represents a group of companies that operates internationally and has its headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany. It distributes roughly 20 games, translated into over 50 languages.
The ...
.
Games
Games developed or published as "Bluehole Studio"
Games developed or published as "Krafton"
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Bundang
Tencent
Companies based in Gyeonggi Province
Video game companies established in 2018
Video game companies of South Korea
Video game development companies
South Korean companies established in 2018
Holding companies of South Korea
2021 initial public offerings
Companies listed on the Korea Exchange