The chief executive of South Korean game developer and publisher PUBG, renowned for its namesake hit survival shooter game PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (PUBG), will double as the head of its parent group Krafton Game Union grappling with the lack of popular game titles.

According to industry sources, Chang Byung-gyu, chairman of Krafton (formerly Bluehole Studio), made the announcement of CEO change to its employees in an online meeting held Thursday. Following the appointment of new CEO Kim Chang-han, who also serves as CEO of PUBG, current Krafton CEO Kim Hyo-sub will resign from the office.

Industry experts expect Krafton would soon kick off its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) with new CEO under support from Chang. Some say Kim will speed up the launch of Krafton’s new MMORPG label ‘Ascent: Infinite Realm (A:IR),’ which is still under development after the closed beta test two years ago.

Bluehole launched the Krafton brand in 2018 to represent a group of game developing units under its wings including PUBG, Bluhole Pnix, Bluehole Squall, Red Sahara Studios and Delusion Studio. Last month, Squall opted for a business closure after its failed attempts to narrow the gap in opinions over the direction of its game development.

PUBG, formerly Ginno Games acquired by Bluehole in 2015, released its hit military-style shooter battle royal game where a total of 100 players will have to fight till death and the last man standing will be declared the winner in 2017.

Various other titles have been released by Krafton units but have failed to garner a positive response.

By Pulse

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