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IPO plans value Krafton at up to $27bn

The initial public offering is reportedly scheduled for the second half of 2021

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds parent company Krafton is planning an initial public offering for mid-to-late 2021.

Bloomberg reported that the IPO could value the company at up to KRW 30 trillion ($27.2 billion), quoting a report from Eugene Investment & Securities Co dating from January 5.

That would make the company one of the biggest games firms in the world, according to Bloomberg's estimates, above Take-Two and its $22.6 billion value, and Bandai Namco at $19.7 billion.

Krafton merged with PUBG Corp in September 2020. The PUBG Corp business was itself created in 2017 by Krafton, which was then known as Bluehole, to handle the development and growth of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

PUBG has gone from strength to strength since its launch in Early Access in March 2017, having sold 70 million copies as of July 2020, across PS4, Xbox One and PC.

A free-to-play mobile version also launched in 2018, and became the first mobile battle royale to surpass $1 billion in revenue.

We talked to PUBG new creative director Dave Curd in December -- he then described his vision for the battle royale as one of evolution, not revolution.

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Marie Dealessandri avatar
Marie Dealessandri: Marie joined GamesIndustry.biz in 2019 to head its Academy section. A journalist since 2012, she started in games in 2016. She can be found (rarely) tweeting @mariedeal, usually on a loop about Baldur’s Gate and the Dead Cells soundtrack. GI resident Moomins expert.
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