According to a new press release from Krafton, the publisher plans to franchise PUBG: Battlegrounds and invest further in AI.
Krafton CEO Changhan Kim delivered a variety of statements today at a Krafton Live Talk, the publisher’s in-house communication program.
The live talk explained that Krafton is “expanding the product lineup based on Battleground IP”. Krafton will also “[increase] development business through internal and external studios and outsourcing”.
Krafton’s new plans continue ongoing efforts to scale up. The publisher recently announced a new extraction shooter that will launch in the second half of 2024.
That game is currently titled Project Black Budget, but Krafton has not confirmed further details.
The publisher will likely invest in new PUBG spin-offs going forward. So, fans should prepare for a wider range of game announcements this year.
Also, now that Krafton has held a major live talk, hopefully it will open up about Project Black Budget soon.
Although PUBG originally launched years ago, it has maintained a large player base, and is still considered valuable.
In fact, PUBG: Battlegrounds remains the only title that hasn’t been surpassed by Palworld’s record-breaking player count on Steam.
Palworld recently crossed 1.8 million concurrent players on Steam. But it still trails behind PUBG’s all-time peak of 3 million concurrent players.
The new Krafton Live Talk also mentioned continued interest in AI, specifically deep learning technology.
Krafton considers it a game-changer and will use it “more actively during development”. The publisher also stated “it can not only improve production efficiency, but also provide new user-centered experiences”.
There has been some division over AI in gaming, but its role in development continues to grow. Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu recently declared the company plans “to be aggressive in applying AI”.
For more of the latest gaming news, you can read about Microsoft laying off 1,900 employees in its video game workforce.
