Krafton Expands to 19 Development Studios... Hit IP Leaders Gather

Aiming to Launch 12 New Titles Over the Next Two Years

On January 21, Krafton announced that it will expand its number of creative studios to a total of 19.

From the left, Sunghoon Kim, CEO of Nine B Studio; Junghwan Noh, CEO of Omnicraft Labs; Hyungwook Bae, CEO of Lunshot Games; Changmyung Lee, CEO of Olive Tree Games. Provided by Krafton

Previously, Krafton unveiled its mid- to long-term strategy of securing major franchise intellectual property (IP), and has since expanded its investment in in-house production, focusing on the development of new titles and talent acquisition. Over the past year, the company recruited 15 key production leaders and established new studios.

The creative studios established last year or scheduled to be launched this year include Nine Studio, Omnicraft Labs, Runshot Games, and Olive Tree Games.

Nine Studio is preparing new titles that emphasize immersive experiences across various genres, and plans to establish a corporation within this year. The studio is led by CEO Sunghoon Kim, who previously served as Vice President of Hive IM. Omnicraft Labs, headed by former Nexon Korea Vice President Junghwan Noh, will introduce games across a variety of platforms and genres.

Runshot Games, which plans to incorporate in the first half of this year, is developing new titles including subculture mobile games. The studio is led by CEO Hyungwook Bae, who was responsible for the Cookie Run IP game service and business at Devsisters. Olive Tree Games, led by CEO Changmyeong Lee-who spearheaded the development of the Anipang series at Wemade Play-is a studio focused on creating social, casual, and puzzle games for a global audience.

Krafton will drive new game development by operating small, agile development teams centered around newly recruited production leaders with proven track records in creating hit titles. New projects will be validated in markets with clear core fan bases, and projects that demonstrate success will be gradually expanded and nurtured into franchise IPs.

Meanwhile, Krafton currently operates a pipeline of 26 new titles and aims to launch 12 new games over the next two years.