Developers behind PUBG are getting into the metaverse this year

4 May 2023

One topic that has been discussed more regularly in relation to esports over the past few years is the metaverse, and how esports can thrive optimally in the metaverse. As part of the so-called Web3 development, the metaverse is looking to become the very center of the new internet and the talented people at Krafton have realized this as well. The South Korean studio behind the enormous international esports hit PUBG, which was previously known as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds), have announced that they will be launching a brand-new gaming platform for the metaverse sometime this year.

Big investment in Migaloo

Krafton has been working on its official entry into the metaverse for a while now and the studio has been hinting at the launch of a new metaverse gaming platform under the name Migaloo. Whether or not this will remain as the name of the project is unsure, but what is sure is that Krafton is taking the project very seriously. In collaboration with South Korean augmented reality creators Naver Z, Krafton has recently created a joint venture based in the United States of America and injected no less than $ 36.8 into the new company. According to the company’s related publications, Krafton holds 85% of the venture, while Naver is the owner of the remaining 15% of shares.

“KRAFTON, Inc., the creators of global gaming hits like PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, and NAVER Z, the operator of the largest metaverse in Asia, have announced a joint venture to create a new metaverse platform under the working title "Migaloo"”, Krafton communicated on Wednesday, April 19th 2023, “The companies have invested KRW 48 billion (roughly $36.8 million USD) to develop the platform, which features a Create-to-Earn (C2E) system that allows content creators to build works in the metaverse that users can purchase and own using NFTs and blockchain technology.  The joint venture will be based in North America, with the name to be shared once a local corporate entity has been established”.

Combining valuable expertise

At a first glance, the new multi-million collaboration between Krafton and Naver Z makes a lot of sense, considering the different but very complementary expertise of each partner. Thanks to huge success stories like the one of PUBG, Krafton possesses a lot of knowledge and experience in regard to the development of popular games, while Naver Z has practically unrivalled expertise when it comes to creating and operating social networks in the metaverse. In its first release, Krafton writes that it will be responsible for the development of sandbox tools and blockchain systems, and that Naver Z will “focus on service planning and partnership acquisition”.

While not much more is known about the Migaloo project at the moment of writing, we already know that it won’t be a Facebook-style metaverse project. The “create-to-earn” model will be at the heart of Migaloo, which would make it more similar to the popular existing app Roblox. More information about the project is expected over the coming months.