Bluehole has acquired several development studios since its founding. On 5 November 2018, all subsidiaries were reorganized under one parent company: Krafton Game Union.
Bluehole Studio
Bluehole Studio was founded in Seoul in March 2007 by Chang Byung-gyu.[8] Chang previously established Neowiz in 1997, along seven other co-founders, moved on to found search engine developer First Snow in 2005, and sold that venture in 2006.[9] The company announced on 22 April 2015 that they had changed their name to simply Bluehole.[10]
In August 2017, Chinese holding company Tencent announced that it had, following a rejected acquisition bid, invested an undisclosed amount of money into Bluehole.[11] Bluehole initially denied that any investment had been made,[12] but later stated that they were in talks with Tencent in multiple partnerships, including the acquisition of an equity stake in Bluehole by Tencent.[13] Subsequently, Tencent acquired 1.5% of Bluehole for a total of .[14] Tencent reaffirmed their intents to fully acquire Bluehole in November 2017.[15][16] Korean magazine The Korea Times suggested that an initial public offering, through which Bluehole would become a public company, was "out of question" due to Chang Byung-gyu's position as chairman of both Bluehole and the Fourth Industrial Revolution committee.[17] At the time, 38 Communications, a company that tracks unlisted Korean stocks, valued the company at .[18][19] Tencent plans to invest further to acquire further 10% ownership, raising their total stake to 11.5%.[20]
PUBG Studios
PUBG Studios (formerly Ginno Games, Bluehole Ginno Games and PUBG Corporation) is an internal studio of Bluehole's that developed one of the establishing battle royale games, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), based on user mods in other games by Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene and who was hired by PUBG Studios to develop it into a full title. Originally, Ginno Games had been founded by Kim Chang-han to develop MMOs, but around 2014, he had been forced to lay off a third of his staff as their last product had not performed well.[21] He sold Ginno Games to Bluehole on 27 January 2015, with the sale to close on 27 March that year.[22][23] At the time, Ginno Games employed 60 people.[23] Ginno Games changed their corporate name to Bluehole Ginno Games in May 2015. Shortly after Bluehole's acquisition in 2015, Chang-han reached out to Greene to offer him support to build out his battle royale at Bluehole Ginno, which Greene accepted. PUBG was first released in early access in March 2017 as a highly popular game. Following the success of PUBG in 2017, Bluehole Ginno Games was renamed PUBG Corporation in September 2017.
Striking Distance Studios
In June 2019, a new American studio called Striking Distance was opened in conjunction with Glen Schofield, the co-founder of Sledgehammer Games. Striking Distance, headed by Schofield as chief executive officer, was set to develop narrative-driven games based on PUBG.[39] The studio's first game is The Callisto Protocol, a survival horror game. It was originally intended to be set within the PUBG universe but that never went into fruition. It was released on December 2, 2022. In August 2024, the studio announced [REDACTED], a new game set in the Callisto Protocol universe.[40] [REDACTED] was released on 28 October 2024, receiving initial positive reviews.[41]
Striking Distance Studios is headquartered in San Ramon, California.[42]
RisingWings
RisingWings is a South Korean video game development studio formed by the merger of Pnix and Delusion. RisingWings focuses primarily on casual mobile games.[43] RisingWings is based in Seoul.[44][45]
Dreamotion Inc.
Dreamotion is a South Korean video game development studio founded in July 2016.[46] They primarily focus on developing mobile games.[47] Dreamotion was acquired by Krafton on 13 May 2021.[48][49][50] The studio's latest game and first console and PC title is the adventure game, My Little Puppy.
Thingsflow
Thingsflow Inc. an interactive content production company known for Hellobot, a chat-based content platform that allows users to engage with bot-driven characters through dedicated apps and messenger services. As of May 2021, Hellobot has more than four million users throughout Korea and Japan. On 29 June 2021 this company was acquired by Krafton.[51]
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, founded in 2001 in San Francisco, California, is an American video game develepment studio renowned for titles like Natural Selection and Subnautica.[52] In October 2021, the studio was acquired by Krafton. In August 2022, they announced the development of Moonbreaker, a turn-based strategy game set in a sci-fi universe crafted by author Brandon Sanderson.[53][54][55] The game had its full release on February 2, 2024.[56]
The studio is currently developing Subnautica 2, the sequel to Subnautica (2018) and Subnautica: Below Zero (2021). Subnautica 2 is scheduled to enter early access in 2026 and will initially be available on Windows and Xbox Series X/S.
5minlab Corporation
5minlab is a South Korean video game development studio founded in 2013, known for developing Smash Legends, Baam Squad, Toy Clash, among others.[63] It is also known for developing live Q&A broadcast systems and providing AR/VR software and content to large corporations and broadcast companies. This company was acquired by Krafton in February 2022.[64][65]
Notable games developed by 5minlab after its acquisition by Krafton include Kill the Crows, a fast-paced top-down western arena shooter, and Private Military Manager. The studio is currently developing Dinkum Together, a multiplayer spin-off of the life simulation game Dinkum, by James Bendon. In February 2025, it was announced that Krafton had acquired publishing rights for all titles within the Dinkum IP.[66][67]
Neon Giant
In November 2022, it was announced that Krafton had acquired Neon Giant, the Uppsala-based Swedish developer of The Ascent.[68]
Krafton Montreal Studio
Krafton opened Krafton Montreal Studio, its first Canadian studio, in February 2023. As its first game, the studio is developing Project Windless, a game based on the South Korean fantasy novel The Bird That Drinks Tears by Lee Yeongdo.[69][70]
ReLu Games
ReLu Games is a South Korean video game development studio founded internally within Krafton in June 2023 that to develop games that integrate deep learning technology through AI. MJ Kim, the head of the studio, previously Krafton's Special Project II incubation program.[71] Its most recent game is MIMESIS, a co-op survival horror game released on October 27, 2025 for Windows via Steam in early access,[72] and its upcoming title being Scavenger T.O.M., a survival crafting game.
Flyway Games
Flyway Games is a indie-style South Korean video game development studio founded internally within Krafton best known for Commander Quest, a roguelike deckbuilder/auto battler.[73] Its upcoming games are Ascend to ZERO, an action roguelike,[74] and Waltz and Jam, an action-adventure game.
Tango Gameworks
On August 11, 2024, Krafton announced their purchase of Tango Gameworks and the intellectual property rights to Hi-Fi Rush from Microsoft Gaming following the studio's closure earlier that June. The development studio acts as Krafton's first video game subsidiary based in Japan, with the rights to previous Tango games remaining with Microsoft Gaming's ZeniMax Media division. Following the acquisition, Krafton plans "to continue developing the Hi-Fi Rush IP and explore future projects", while also forged a strategic partnership with Microsoft, including help integrate Tango among the others Krafton's studios and support future Hi-Fi Rush projects.[75][76]
InZOI Studio
In early 2025, it was announced that Krafton had founded InZOI Studio, the development studio behind the simulation game InZOI.[77]
JofSoft
In June 2025, Krafton announced its first Steam publisher sale, including Pizza Bandit by Korean / USA indie game develepment studio JofSoft, confirming that the studio has recently joined Krafton.[78]
Eleventh Hour Games
On the 25th July 2025, Krafton announced that it had acquired Last Epoch developer Eleventh Hour Games. The initial purchase price was $96 million.[79]
