PUBG and Subnautica publisher Krafton says it’s transforming into an ‘AI-first’ company
The South Korean publisher will reorganise around AI, it’s claimed
Krafton, the South Korean publisher behind PUBG, Subnautica, Hi-Fi Rush, and more, has announced its intention to restructure into an “AI-first” company.
In an announcement made to local press on Thursday, Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han said the company would reorganise its development operations to “place AI at the center” of problem-solving.
To make this happen, Krafton will invest approximately KRW 100 billion (about $69.5m USD) to build a GPU cluster to “support multi-stage tasks requiring sophisticated reasoning and iterative planning”, and serve as “the foundation for accelerating the implementation of agentic AI”.
Krafton will invest another KRW 30 billion (about $20.8m USD) annually starting in 2026 to “actively support its employees in directly utilizing and applying various AI tools to their work”.
The company will also restructure its HR system and organizational operations around AI, it said.
“Starting today, Krafton will automate work centered on AI and fully implement an AI-centered management system where members focus on creative activities and complex problem solving,” said Chang-han, via machine translation.
“We will leap forward as a company that promotes the growth of members and expands the organization’s areas of challenge through AI.”
He added: “Through our AI First strategy, Krafton will expand the growth opportunities for each member, expand creative attempts centred on player experience, and lead AI innovation across the gaming industry.”
The use of generative AI is a significant pressure point in many creative industries, including video games, with tools such as Midjourney being criticised by some who perceive them as replacing professional artists and using their work without permission for their training set.
According to the latest GDC State of the Game Industry survey, nearly 50% of developers say that generative AI tools are being used at their workplace, while 84% say they’re concerned about their use.
Steam games disclosing the use of generative AI have increased by 800% so far this year, according to an analysis of games published this summer.
