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The company hopes to create NFT avatars that can be used "in the metaverse in the future."

Chris Kerr, News Editor

February 9, 2022

1 Min Read

PUBG: Battlegrounds owner Krafton is the latest company to roll the NFT dice.

The South Korean company has sunk $2.5 million into Seoul Auction Blue and $4.1 million into XBYBLUE with the aim of developing non-fungible token projects. 

Seoul Auction Blue is an affiliate of Korea's largest art auctioneer, Seoul Auction. XBYBLUE is a subsidiary of Seoul Auction Blue, and operates a service that can be used to secure and curate the intellectual properties of digital content to produce "limited digital art." 

Krafton subsidiary Bluehole, which develops PUBG, will reportedly lead the collaboration with the aim of creating and selling NFT avatars that can be used "in the metaverse in the future."

As with most NFT pitches, it all sounds incredibly speculative. Krafton didn't explain what its theoretical metaverse will look like, when it will actually materialize, or when it will be able to support those NFT avatars. 

NFTs and other crypto schemes have begun to permeate the games industry. Major companies including Ubisoft, GameStopKonami and others  have started to explore the space despite fans -- and in some cases their own employees -- raising concerns about the environmental impact of such initiatives and the potential for fraud. 

Other companies, however, have struggled to weather the storm, and earlier this year both EA and Team17 scrapped their own NFT plans after initially waxing lyrical about the prospect of selling insipid digital goods.

About the Author(s)

Chris Kerr

News Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.

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