Krafton Inc. invested in 10 overseas game developers in 2024 in search for next big franchise intellectual property (IP), following its mega-hit title “PUBG: Battlegrounds.”
According to game industry sources on Monday, Krafton became a major shareholder in the US-based Varacious Games with the investment of 4.6 billion won ($3.2 million) in the fourth quarter of last year.
The studio is best known for Potionomics, which ranked as the second-highest-grossing game on Steam, the world’s largest PC gaming platform.
Krafton also acquired a 29.62% stake in Poland’s Antistatic Studios, investing 4.7 billion won. The studio was founded by developers behind hit games “Cyberpunk 2077” and “BioShock.”
The companies Krafton invested in 2024 include Red Rover Interactive, Eschatology Entertainment, Ruckus Games, EF Games, Piccolo Studio, Republic of Games, Wolf Haus Games and Day 4 Night Studios.
Krafton invested between 2 billion and 12 billion won in each game developer, securing a 15% to 29% stakes. Most of these startups were founded by veteran developers with track records in hit game production.
Its aggressive investments in overseas game developers contrast with other Korean game publishers, most of which prefer to develop in-house titles and release one or two games annually.
“Krafton’s strong financial results has enabled it to invest and PUBG’s global success has likely facilitated discussions with overseas studios,” said a gaming company official.
In 2024, Krafton posted record-high revenue of 2.71 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.18 trillion won. More than 80% of its revenue still comes from PUBG-related titles.
It has been hunting for next big titles after its new release — The Callisto Protocol — failed to make a commercial success.
Over the next five years, Krafton plans to invest up to 1.5 trillion won in acquiring and developing new game franchises.
“We will secure the next big franchise IP after PUBG and enhance corporate value through phased growth,” its CEO Kim Changhan said during a meeting with employees in January.
By Ju-Wan Kim
kjwan@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.
