Krafton Acquires The Ascent Studio Neon Giant

The publisher also shares some healthy financial figures for Q3 2022.

It’s been a great quarter for publisher Krafton, who in its most recent financial results report has also divulged a new acquisition. As well as reporting on some healthy sales figures for its existing roster of titles, Krafton has revealed that it’s in the process of acquiring the Swedish development studio Neon Giant.

Perhaps best known for creating the highly engaging top-down cyberpunk action RPG The Ascent, Neon Giant will come under Krafton’s umbrella at an as-yet-unannounced date. It’s assumed that this will probably be within the next quarter, given that the news is being revealed now, but it remains to be seen when exactly the acquisition will take place. Regardless, it is an exciting move for those who’ve been following Neon Giant’s work. The studio is seemingly taking steps in a new direction for its next project, as Krafton has also revealed that the team are currently working on “an open-world FPS game.” This is clearly a pretty different style of game to that of The Ascent, but perhaps one that fits more in line with Krafton’s other published works.

Furthermore, Krafton’s plans for its upcoming games are also detailed in its latest briefing. This includes a mention of its in-progress fantasy action RPG project The Bird That Drinks Tears. The publisher has revealed that it’ll be working to establish a new Canadian-based studio to lead the development of that project, which is exciting news for those waiting for further progress updates. When this will be exactly, is unclear, but there’s obviously a plan in place to get things moving on this and Krafton’s other projects that are currently in the pipeline. These include Project Black Budget, a PvPvE hardcore looter shooter), Project Roam, a multiplayer PvPvE shooter and the next Subnautica game.

All in all, Krafton is doing pretty well in terms of revenue, with PUBG: Battlegrounds proving to be the gift that keeps on giving for the team. Profits are up by 17% on the last quarter, which is thanks predominantly to the continuous influx of new players to PUBG: Battlegrounds since the game went free-to-play back in January. The switch over to free-to-play really does seem to work wonders for increasing turnover, as is evident from a number of other games that have adopted the same business model this past year. You can read Krafton’s Q3 2022 earnings statement in full to check out the breakdown of how its games are currently doing, but the short answer is that things look pretty positive for the time being.

Krafton’s next game will be the highly-anticipated sci-fi survival horror The Callisto Protocol, which launches on December 2. It’ll be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC.

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