Searching for What Comes After PUBG
Krafton is simultaneously running 26 new projects while formally pursuing acquisition of the next franchise IP after PUBG. AI First transformation applying AI across all business operations is pursued in parallel -- driving development efficiency and new title challenge simultaneously. From this year, physical AI and robotics fields are also examined as game technology extension areas from a medium-to-long-term perspective. Physical AI means AI that moves and interacts in the real world. Krafton views play data and simulation experience accumulated in virtual worlds with precisely implemented physical laws (like Battlegrounds) as applicable to physical AI and robotics fields. The AI First bet: Krafton is freezing hiring while focusing on AI transformation -- evaluated as the most aggressive move in the industry. Choosing AI investment over staffing expansion despite record results reads as a strategy to reinvest productivity gains into new titles and innovation projects. Data: 72.0% of domestic game industry workers utilize AI in their work; average work time reduced by 32.4% (Korea Creative Content Agency). Krafton has bet 100B+ KRW on this productivity multiplier. Risks: running 26 projects in parallel broadens the scope of experiments but disperses key personnel and budgets; the challenge is whether the AI productivity gains are sufficient to offset the coordination costs of managing this many parallel initiatives simultaneously.
