PNN
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 16: KRAFTON, Inc. announced its 2026 management strategy and mid-to-long-term growth plans during its company-wide town hall meeting, KRAFTON LIVE TALK (KLT), held on January 15. The strategy reinforces KRAFTON's commitment to gaming as its core business, with a clear emphasis on building original Franchise IPs through a structured, execution-driven development model, rather than relying on one-off successes.
- KRAFTON is advancing a structured global game development pipeline to identify, validate, and scale future Franchise IPs, while continuing to grow its core gaming business.
- In India, this strategy is being executed through KRAFTON India's active role in game publishing, live-operations, developer incubation, and long-term ecosystem building, positioning the country as a key market for sustained game-led growth.
CEO CH Kim shared his strategic direction under the theme 'Franchise IP & Expanded Value.' This year, KRAFTON will continue to pursue its mid-to-long-term strategy to secure a 'Big Franchise IP,' anchored in three priorities announced in 2025: significantly increasing first-party production, expanding publishing volume, and optimising resource allocation. The objective is to build IPs that can scale across genres, platforms, and service formats, delivering sustainable growth over extended product life cycles.
Over the past year, KRAFTON has laid the groundwork for this shift by strengthening creative leadership and upgrading its global development and publishing frameworks. In 2026, the company will move firmly into the execution phase, accelerating the development of new titles designed to test, iterate, and scale into long-term franchises. In India, this is supported by KRAFTON India's focus on running large-scale live games, publishing India-first titles, and developing a pipeline of early-stage studios through the KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI), creating stronger links between talent, production readiness, and long-term IP thinking.
"We will remain focused on KRAFTON's core gaming business as we begin to move into the execution phase of producing new titles," said CH Kim. "While expanding our existing IPs as content platforms, we will begin to create Franchise IPs via our new title pipeline and creative leadership."
Building a Learn-Fast, Scale-Up Game Development Pipeline
To support faster and more disciplined game creation, KRAFTON strengthened its creative leadership in 2025 by introducing a small-team development structure led by newly recruited key talent. This model prioritises early or targeted releases, such as Early Access and limited market launches, allowing teams to validate gameplay, audience fit, and monetisation potential before scaling investment.
KRAFTON currently operates a 26-project development pipeline, intentionally structured around early validation and clear decision gates, with 12 titles planned for release within the next two years. Rather than simultaneous global launches, each project begins in markets with identifiable core audiences, enabling data-driven decisions around long-term viability.
This approach aligns closely with KRAFTON India's on-ground work through KIGI, where early-stage Indian studios are supported to develop original IPs, receive structured feedback, and build production and publishing readiness, laying the foundation for scalable, franchise-ready games rather than short-term releases.
Several titles released in Early Access last year surpassed one million sales and established strong early communities. These titles have been identified as strategic IPs for 2026, with plans to extend their product life cycles and evolve them into long-term franchises. This balance--scaling proven titles while continuously feeding new IPs into the pipeline, underscores KRAFTON's commitment to sustainable growth through gaming.
Focused Technology Innovation in Service of Core Gaming
While remaining firmly anchored in game development, KRAFTON continues to apply AI technologies to improve gameplay quality and development efficiency. These initiatives are focused on streamlining workflows and enabling creative teams to spend more time on design, iteration, and polish, supporting game development pipelines globally, including across KRAFTON India's publishing and incubation ecosystem.
Looking ahead, KRAFTON will continue evaluating opportunities that build on its strengths as a game company, grounded in the technical and R&D expertise developed through years of creating large-scale interactive experiences.
About KRAFTON, Inc.
Headquartered in South Korea, KRAFTON, Inc. is dedicated to discovering and publishing captivating games that offer fun and unique experiences. Established in 2007, KRAFTON is home to globally renowned developers that include PUBG STUDIOS, Striking Distance Studios, Unknown Worlds, VECTOR NORTH, Neon Giant, KRAFTON Montreal Studio, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings, 5minlab, Dreamotion, ReLU Games, Flyway Games, Tango Gameworks and inZOI Studio. Each studio strives to continuously take on new challenges and leverage innovative technologies. Their goal is to win over more fans by broadening KRAFTON's platforms and services. With a passionate and driven team across the globe, KRAFTON is a tech-forward company that possesses world-class capabilities and is set on expanding its business horizons to encompass multimedia entertainment and deep learning. For more information, visit www.krafton.com.
About KRAFTON India
In India, KRAFTON is responsible for premier mobile games, including BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI), which has surpassed 240 million downloads, Bullet Echo India, Road To Valor: Empires, and CookieRun India, among others. Committed to enhancing the start-up ecosystem in India, KRAFTON has invested over $170 million in several Indian startups across interactive entertainment, gaming, Esports, and technology, since 2021. KRAFTON actively supports India's game development ecosystem through its KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI) while strengthening the Esports ecosystem with flagship events like the BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA SERIES (BGIS) and BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA PRO SERIES (BMPS). For more information, visit https://krafton.in/
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