Kakao vows to boost user base of 'PUBG' in Korea

Kakao Games’ head of “Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds” business Kim Sang-koo speaks during a press conference at the El Tower in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Kakao Games

By Yoon Sung-won

Kakao Games, the winner of publishing rights for the mega-hit shooter game “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds" (PUBG) in Korea, pledged to attract a bigger user base here, seeking extensive partnerships with PC rooms, the company said Tuesday.

Kakao Games said it will start providing the game in Korea on Nov. 14.

Since its prerelease through the world’s largest computer game publishing platform Steam in March, more than 18 million copies of PUBG have been sold, though its development is not complete.

It became the most-played game on the Steam platform, with more than 2 million concurrent users earlier this month.

With the game’s explosive success, Bluehole made the game’s development studio an independent subsidiary called PUBG Corp. and named its executive director Kim Chang-han as CEO.

Under a partnership between PUBG Corp. and Kakao Games, the latter became the exclusive publisher of the game in the Korean market. For Kakao Games, the publishing rights are a big boon as it faces tough market competition here.

“We were in a desperate situation at that time as we had an insufficient game service portfolio to boost our presence in the game publishing market,” Kakao Games’ PUBG business head Kim Sang-koo said during a press conference in Seoul. “We have pushed hard to persuade PUBG Corp.

“PUBG has made great achievements already. But we believe it can draw more public interest. I believe the game needs us to be recognized as a favored game culture in the long-term perspective.”

PUBG Corp. CEO Kim Chang-han said: “When we released the game seven months ago, we were a small development studio and needed a reliable partner to run the domestic business. Kakao Games has shown us great enthusiasm for the partnership and we chose them. On the back of Kakao Games’ experience and knowhow, we will be able to make the game into a new gaming culture in Korea.”

The Kakao Games official said the company doesn’t plan to make those who have already bought PUBG through Steam buy the game again on the Kakao platform. Users can play the game together regardless of which platform they have logged in with, he said.

Instead, the company will target PC rooms for license deals in the domestic market.

“We will concentrate on the PC room business. We will provide diverse services for those who seek to play the game more conveniently at PC rooms,” the Kakao Games official said.

According to market tracker Gametrics, PUBG was the second most-played game at PC rooms in Korea with 25.48 percent market share as of Tuesday, closely following League of Legends with 25.67 percent.

Kakao Games also said it plans to launch a teenage version of PUBG to widen its user base. The game has only been available to adults because of its violence.

The Kakao Games official said the company does not plan to sell paid in-game items that may undermine the balance of play.