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Krafton Reshapes Itself as ‘AI-First’ Game Publisher with $70M Bet on Next-Gen Tools
October 26, 2025Krafton, the South Korean powerhouse behind hits like PUBG and Subnautica, just made a major pivot: it’s reorganising the entire company to prioritise artificial intelligence at every level. CEO Kim Chang-han pulled back the curtain on the plan this week, revealing that Krafton is reshaping its development process so that AI becomes central to how the company solves problems and drives projects.
$69.5 Million Move: Building an AI Backbone
This isn’t a marketing stunt or another shallow restructure. Krafton is putting up KRW 100 billion (roughly $69.5 million USD) to build a dedicated GPU cluster. Think of it as the engine room for AI, designed to handle complex, multi-stage tasks that demand advanced reasoning and iterative planning. Kim calls this cluster “the foundation for accelerating the implementation of agentic AI.”
And the spending isn’t stopping there. Starting in 2026, Krafton plans to invest an additional KRW 30 billion (about $20.8 million USD) every year. This money goes to equipping its teams with a toolset of AI software and direct support, so employees can embed next-gen tech directly into their workflows.
It’s not limited to tech and servers, either. The publisher will also restructure its HR systems and overall organisation to be compatible with AI-first thinking. The message from the top: if a task can be automated or boosted with AI, that’s the new normal, freeing up people to focus on creative problem-solving and big-picture work.
“AI-Centred Management Is the Future”
Kim didn’t mince words about the goal. In his statement (via machine translation), he said: “Starting today, Krafton will automate work centred on AI and fully implement an AI-centred management system where members focus on creative activities and complex problem solving.”
The company wants to put innovation into overdrive, both for its games and its employees. “We will leap forward as a company that promotes the growth of members and expands the organisation’s areas of challenge through AI.” For Kim, the “AI First strategy” isn’t just internal process talk. He says it will expand how staff grow and experiment, but, crucially, will centre everything on the player experience. The company’s ambition is bold: to “lead AI innovation across the gaming industry.”
The stakes are huge, with studios worldwide both drawn to and wary of generative AI. Tools like Midjourney have been slammed by artists who say their work is being used without permission to train algorithms. In gaming, half of developers say their studios use AI, but a whopping 84% are worried about where this tech is headed, according to the latest GDC State of the Game Industry survey.
Publishing trends are moving just as fast. According to recent data, Steam saw an 800% increase this year in games tagging themselves for generative AI use. This tidal wave shows AI isn’t a maybe for the industry’s future; it’s already reshaping the rules.
If Krafton pulls off this overhaul, it won’t just change its own roadmap. It could force other AAA publishers to rethink how they structure teams, design games, and define creativity in an AI-accelerated world.
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