The little-known video game studio that created the smash hit ‘PUBG’ is planning an IPO that could raise its value to a whopping $ 27 billion, the report says.

The little-known video game studio that created the smash hit ‘PUBG’ is planning an IPO that could raise its value to a whopping $ 27 billion, the report says.

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The little-known video game studio that created the smash hit ‘PUBG’ is planning an IPO that could raise its value to a whopping $ 27 billion, the report says.

TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP via Getty Images

  • The video game studio behind “PUBG” is planning an initial public offering in 2021, Bloomberg reported.
  • Bloomberg noted a recent estimate that an IPO could value South Korean company Krafton Inc. at up to $ 27 billion.
  • The company’s CEO plans to release three more games based on or related to “PUBG” by 2022.
  • Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.

The South Korean video game studio that created the blockbuster “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” or “PUBG” is planning an initial public offering in the second half of 2021, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Kim Chang-han, who started out young in the gaming industry as a programming genius, was one of 30 people who worked on creating the multiplayer Battle Royale game.

Kim is now the chief executive of Krafton Inc., the company that launched “PUBG” in December 2017. The game attracted players from around the world, raising revenue of $ 100 million in 13 weeks of its global launch.

The “PUBG” in November last year peaked at about 438,000 people playing at the same time, according to data released by Statista. The largest number of people playing simultaneously – about 3 million – was recorded in January 2018.

Before Krafton, Kim had his own game studio. But he laid off a third of his employees in 2014, Bloomberg said. At that time, he had created three multiplayer video games that did not take off.

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“That was the darkest time in my life,” the 46-year-old told Bloomberg. He sold his startup to Krafton in 2015, leading to a series of events that changed his outlook in the gaming world.

He joined the company as an executive producer, only to get the job of CEO last year. Krafton now plans to list a public offering that may be one of the largest in South Korea in years. The sale of shares could raise billions of dollars for the company, Kim told Bloomberg.

Bloomberg cited a recent report by Eugene Investment & Securities estimating that an IPO could value the company at up to 30 trillion won, or $ 27.2 billion. He also predicted that South Korea could raise about $ 11 billion through 120 IPOs in 2021.

Krafton plans to release three more games by 2022, all of which will be based on or related to “PUBG”. One of them is expected to be a survival horror game that portrays the “PUBG” universe in the distant future.

“We will not continue to be a one-hit wonder,” Kim said in the Bloomberg interview.

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