Corporation in Prague, Czech Republic... Development of 'Project Goldrush'
Krafton has established a corporation in the Czech Republic and is developing a new game, 'Project Goldrush.' This is the second overseas corporation set up this year to handle new game development, following the one in Canada last month. The company is actively seeking to discover global intellectual property (IP) to move away from the 'one game risk' of relying solely on Battlegrounds.
On the 3rd, Krafton announced that it completed the establishment of its corporation in Prague, Czech Republic, at the end of last month. The procedure was completed two months after the board of directors approved the establishment of the corporation at the end of last year. With the corporation established, it is expected that Krafton will proceed with hiring global development personnel.
The Czech corporation will be responsible for developing the action-adventure sandbox game, Project Goldrush. Local production staff belonging to the Czech corporation and Korean production staff are jointly developing the game. The release is scheduled for after 2024. The sandbox genre is a game where players create what they want, similar to children playing in the sand. Like Minecraft, players can use elements within the game to create and enjoy their own content. Krafton is preparing this new title as a Game as a Service (GaaS) that can be enjoyed online without the need for a separate download.
Developing new titles at overseas corporations is aimed at discovering global IP. Krafton’s revenue dependence on Battlegrounds reaches 80%, making securing new IP its biggest challenge. Although titles like 'New State Mobile' and 'The Callisto Protocol' were released, repeated failures in hitting the mark have increased the one game risk.
Besides Project Goldrush, major new titles are also mainly handled by overseas corporations. 'Project Windless,' based on the fantasy novel IP 'The Bird That Drinks Tears,' is being developed at the Canadian corporation. Krafton opened a Montreal studio in Canada early last month and appointed industry veteran Patrick Methe as its head. Patrick Methe led the development of titles such as 'Rainbow Six' and 'Far Cry' at Ubisoft, Europe’s largest game company. Krafton plans to hire 150 people over the next three years at the Canadian corporation to take charge of key areas such as animation and programming. The sequel to the survival game 'Subnautica' is being developed by Unknown Worlds, an independent North American studio. Additionally, 'Project Blatbudget,' a root shooter genre game, is being developed by the core production team at PUBG Studio, which developed Battlegrounds. Root shooter games are a genre where players use firearms and other weapons while developing their characters.
Kim Chang-han, CEO of Krafton, said, "The four major pipelines are genres positioned in each market and target new global game players," adding, "This aligns with the direction to secure strong global IP that Krafton has advocated so far."
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