The company behind one of the hottest titles of past years is suspending recruitment to focus on an 'AI-first' approach to development, executives said. — Krafton
Krafton Inc, which owns the studio that popularised the battle royale genre with PUBG, is freezing hiring temporarily in the latest sign that AI is forcing a rethink on the industry’s biggest players.
The company behind one of the hottest titles of past years is suspending recruitment to focus on an "AI-first” approach to development, executives said. On Tuesday, it posted a lower-than-anticipated 7.5% gain in September-quarter operating income, even with a 21% rise in revenue.
South Korea’s biggest game developer joins other tech companies in exploring ways in which AI can help replace human work and boost content development. It unveiled plans this year to rapidly expand its portfolio and invest more than 100bil won (US$70mil) in AI, hoping to create a monster franchise to succeed PUBG: Battlegrounds.
But its shares have slid some 10% in 2025, reflecting in part the turbulence gripping a US$178bil video game industry that stems from changing consumer patterns and online streaming. From NetEase Inc to Microsoft Corp’s once-promising Xbox division, studios globally are downsizing and seeking ways to tap AI for everything from visual creation to game conception.
At CES in Las Vegas this year, Krafton teamed up with Nvidia Corp to showcase AI technology for making more lifelike non-player characters. Dubbed a co-play character, it aims to give an internal life and logic to the actions of people depicted in games, with dynamic adjustments to behavior based on player-selected traits and particular situations.
In response to analysts’ questions Tuesday about its games pipeline, Krafton executives said they have high expectations for 2026 and 2027, when new titles are slated for release. They also highlighted India as a strategically important market, noting efforts to develop games centered around cricket, the country’s most popular sport. – Bloomberg
