Krafton announced on July 29 that it has launched its first global brand campaign through digital signage at Tokyo's Shibuya Scramble Crossing, one of Japan's most prominent advertising locations.

According to the company, the campaign is designed to strengthen brand recognition and showcase Krafton's intellectual property (IP) portfolio in Japan, one of its key markets for global franchise expansion. The initiative forms part of the company's long-term strategy to build and scale "big franchise IPs" with extended product life cycles (PLCs).

The campaign features 16 major franchises, including Mimesis, which recently surpassed 2 million cumulative copies sold, and PUBG: Battlegrounds.

In June, Mimesis became the first Korean game to receive the Excellence Award in the Game Design category at the CEDEC Awards 2026, presented during CEDEC, Japan's largest conference for game developers organized by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA).

The offline campaign ran from June 20 to June 26 and also featured collaboration content between PUBG Mobile and the anime series Naruto Shippuden, a title well known among Japanese players. An accompanying online campaign across social media platforms, including YouTube and X, will continue through Aug. 2.

Kingnet announced on July 29 the official launch of its new 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Yulgang: Next, in South Korea.

Yulgang: Next is based on the intellectual property (IP) of the popular martial arts comic Yulgang (The Ruler of the Land). The game blends the original work's youthful martial arts atmosphere with modern gameplay systems. Featuring cel-shaded graphics, it supports cross-platform play across mobile devices and PCs.

Players can create a variety of combat styles by combining primary skills, ultimate abilities and support skills. The game offers five playable classes—Blade Warrior, Sword Warrior, Spear Warrior, Bow Warrior and Healer—each with distinct roles and combat characteristics.

The game also includes faction battles centered on the Orthodox and Unorthodox sects, along with player-versus-player (PvP) content, guilds, party systems and companion features designed to encourage cooperative and community-based gameplay.

To celebrate the launch, Kingnet will release the game's second original soundtrack, "Together," performed by South Korean singer Song Ga-in, at 6 p.m. on July 29. The ballad, inspired by the original comic's emotional themes and martial arts world, will be available through major music streaming platforms.

Kingnet is also hosting a series of in-game launch events. A seven-day login campaign will reward players with progression items and a high-grade pet. Additional events will offer rare in-game items and special prize drawings. Players who verify pre-downloads or PC gameplay through the game's official community will also be eligible to win prizes including an iPhone 17, a Nintendo Switch 2, gaming laptops and graphics cards.

AUTOCRYPT said on July 29 that it is expanding its global business through a partnership with German automotive software company Elektrobit, combining software platforms with cybersecurity technologies.

Under the strategic partnership, AUTOCRYPT has secured exclusive distribution rights in South Korea for Elektrobit's key software solutions. The two companies will also pursue co-selling opportunities with automakers and automotive suppliers in Korea and overseas to expand new business opportunities.

Elektrobit provides technologies for automotive operating systems, digital cockpits, high-performance computing (HPC), and AUTOSAR, the international software standard for the automotive industry. AUTOCRYPT offers technologies supporting compliance with UNECE UN R155, UN R156, and ISO/SAE 21434, as well as public key infrastructure (PKI), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) security, and vehicle security testing platforms.

The two companies plan to combine Elektrobit's software platform with AUTOCRYPT's cybersecurity technologies to target Asian markets, including South Korea, India, and China.

According to AUTOCRYPT, the partnership represents business opportunities worth about 122 billion won, including an estimated 8 billion won in revenue from exclusive distribution rights for Elektrobit's key solutions in South Korea and approximately 22 billion won in new business opportunities through joint sales initiatives.

Building on the collaboration, AUTOCRYPT plans to expand beyond automotive cybersecurity into Physical AI security spanning mobility, robotics, defense, and smart infrastructure.

AhnLab reported double-digit revenue growth from its global business, led by Rakeen, its joint venture in Saudi Arabia.

The company said on July 29 that it posted preliminary consolidated revenue of 71.3 billion won and operating profit of 5.4 billion won for the second quarter of 2026. Compared with the same period a year earlier, when it recorded revenue of 62.3 billion won and operating profit of 3.5 billion won, revenue increased 14.5% and operating profit rose 55.6%.

According to AhnLab, revenue growth was driven by increased demand for products related to the National Network Security Framework (N2SF) and zero-trust security, including endpoint detection and response (EDR) and XTG solutions.

On a standalone basis, the company reported revenue of 64.3 billion won and operating profit of 7.6 billion won, up 17.1% and 14.1%, respectively, from a year earlier. Revenue increased by 9.4 billion won, while operating profit rose by 940 million won.

For the first half of 2026, consolidated revenue reached 130.4 billion won and operating profit totaled 7.3 billion won, representing year-on-year increases of 9.1% and 62.3%, respectively.

On a standalone basis, first-half revenue came to 116.7 billion won and operating profit reached 12.5 billion won. Compared with the same period last year, revenue increased by 10.9 billion won, or 10.3%, while operating profit rose by 3.0 billion won, or 31.1%.

Krafton said on July 29 that it has released its speech artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model, A.X K2 Raon-Speech, on the global AI platform Hugging Face.

A.X K2 Raon-Speech is a speech language model unveiled as part of the second-phase results of the Korean government's Sovereign AI Foundation Model project, led by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Krafton is participating in the project as a member of SK Telecom's development team.

The model combines SK Telecom's A.X K2 small language model with Krafton's proprietary speech encoder and codec technologies. Unlike conventional AI voice dialogue systems that often lose emotional nuance and intonation in users' speech, A.X K2 Raon-Speech is designed to generate natural spoken responses that preserve both emotional expression and vocal inflection.

According to the company, A.X K2 Raon-Speech is built on a 21-billion-parameter architecture and ranks first in overall Korean-language performance and third in overall English-language performance among open speech language models with fewer than 30 billion parameters.

Kakao said on July 30 that it has launched an external advisory panel under its AI & Technology Ethics Subcommittee to strengthen the company's artificial intelligence (AI) ethics governance framework.

The initiative is aimed at proactively addressing social risks emerging from the spread of agentic AI and establishing an AI policy framework aligned with a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

The advisory panel consists of seven experts: Kim Myung-ju, Executive Director of the Korea AI Safety Institute (AISI); Lee Min-seok, professor at the College of Software Convergence at Kookmin University; Lee Sang-wook, professor in the Department of Philosophy at Hanyang University; Lee Won-tae, distinguished professor at Kookmin University; Byun Soon-yong, professor in the Department of Ethics Education at Seoul National University of Education; Yoo Jae-yeon, adjunct professor in the Division of Social Innovation Convergence at Hanyang University; and Jung Byung-soo, head of the Learning & Development Center at UNICEF.

The advisory panel held its kickoff meeting last month and officially began operations through its first regular meeting on July 29. The group plans to convene regularly throughout the year and provide guidance on establishing Kakao's AI ethics standards and governance direction.

Krafton posted record first-half revenue and operating profit, driven by continued growth of the PUBG franchise and the successful early access launch of Subnautica 2 in May.

The company said during an earnings conference call on July 29 that consolidated first-half revenue reached 2.6616 trillion won, while operating profit totaled 972.5 billion won, up 73.3% and 38.3%, respectively, from a year earlier. First-half operating profit represented 92% of the company's total operating profit for all of 2025.

Second-quarter revenue rose to 1.2902 trillion won, with operating profit increasing to 410.9 billion won, up 94.9% and 67.0%, respectively, from the same period last year. Both figures marked record highs for a second quarter.

Revenue from the PUBG franchise increased 25% year over year during the first half, while Subnautica 2 surpassed 5 million copies sold within 22 days of its early access release.

Revenue by business segment totaled 924.2 billion won from PC games, 1.1537 trillion won from mobile games, 37.7 billion won from console games and 546.0 billion won from other businesses.

On PC, new game modes such as Genopoint and Payday, together with collaboration content featuring Stellar Blade, boosted engagement for PUBG: Battlegrounds. Combined with the success of Subnautica 2, PC revenue reached 560.4 billion won in the second quarter.

On mobile, PUBG Mobile recorded its highest-ever daily revenue following the launch of the Phoenixtra X-Suit, contributing to a 5.5% year-over-year revenue increase to 45.1 billion won.

Krafton plans to expand its portfolio of well-made game modes in the second half. The company said Genopoint generated strong engagement metrics and sustained player demand for permanent availability, prompting follow-up development. Two additional well-made modes are scheduled for release in the second half of this year, with development also underway for various new modes targeted for launch between 2027 and 2028.

The company will continue expanding World of Wonder (WOW), the user-generated content (UGC) platform for PUBG Mobile. During the second quarter, UGC modes accounted for a mid-teen percentage of total playtime among users of PUBG Mobile Korea, Japan and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), compared with approximately 20% for the traditional battle royale mode.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Bae Dong-geun said user-generated content has already gained meaningful traction among players.

"Going forward, we plan to introduce popular intellectual properties, new maps and monetization systems into the UGC ecosystem to increase player engagement and attract new users," CFO Bae said.

The newly introduced WOW Token will be used to purchase items within creator-developed maps, leading to a virtuous cycle of content consumption, replayability, and conversion to paid users. The token operates separately from existing battle royale currency. CFO Bae emphasized that because monetization is in its early stages, Krafton is prioritizing creator ecosystem expansion and user engagement over near-term revenue.

Krafton plans to continue content updates for Subnautica 2 for approximately two years before its full commercial launch, although an exact release date has not been finalized.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kim Chang-han noted that about half of the current player base consists of new users who did not play the original Subnautica, giving Krafton an opportunity to expand its global fanbase, develop the game into a broader franchise, and explore IP expansion beyond gaming.

The company will unveil five new titles at Gamescom 2026 next month in Germany, all targeted for release by 2027. The lineup includes a new project based on the PUBG franchise, as well as NO LAW, Project ZETA, Age Twisters, and TARAE: Unbound.

Krafton is also enhancing PUBG Ally, its on-device AI feature powered by a compact AI model running entirely on players' devices. Having validated the technology and its service potential, the company is developing an upgraded version based on user feedback while evaluating new gameplay and monetization opportunities.

"Going forward, we aim to build multimodal large language models (LLMs) and world models," CEO Kim said. "Based on those technologies, we plan to expand into applications for both games and physical AI."

Krafton is recruiting AI researchers through its US subsidiary Ludo Robotics and plans to support future physical AI development through a combination of internal investment and external funding.

Nexon announced on July 30 that it is launching two new limited-edition plate designs for the Nexon Hyundai Card Edition2, created in collaboration with Hyundai Card and themed around the online game Dungeon & Fighter (DNF).

The new card plates are inspired by Michaela, the Tenth Apostle character from DNF. The collection includes two designs: "Cozy," featuring a friendly super-deformed (SD) character style, and "Fury," which incorporates original artwork enhanced with holographic effects.

To celebrate the launch, Nexon is holding a promotional event for users of the Nexon Pack version of the Nexon Hyundai Card Edition2.

Customers who have not previously participated in Nexon Hyundai Card promotions can receive 50,000 Nexon Hyundai Card Point2 by spending a cumulative 50,000 won or more with the Nexon Pack card by September 17. Those who subsequently spend an additional cumulative 250,000 won and complete designated DNF in-game missions will receive an additional 150,000 points, along with game items including a +10 Equipment Amplification Ticket and a Clone Rare Avatar Full Set.

Existing promotion participants are also eligible for rewards. Users who spend a cumulative 300,000 won or more with the Nexon Pack card and complete the required in-game missions during the same promotional period will receive the same in-game item rewards.

Gravity announced on July 30 the release of “Shambles: The Green Abyss,” a major downloadable content (DLC) expansion for the roguelike text adventure game “Shambles: The Heirs of Apocalypse.”

Developed by EXRIX, Shambles: The Heirs of Apocalypse is a roguelike text adventure game. The new DLC can be played after downloading the base game and purchasing the expansion through Google Play, Apple’s App Store or Steam.

Shambles: The Green Abyss introduces a new storyline that was not covered in the original game. The expansion includes a large-scale content update featuring a new western region, additional bosses, cards and equipment. It also adds a new narrative arc titled “Greenpia and Roa Story.”

Players can experience an expanded storyline and unlock a new ending. The additional story follows the trail of Expedition Team 1, whose members disappeared during the events of the base game, while introducing new enemies and encounters.

To celebrate the launch, Gravity is offering promotional discounts for 14 days beginning July 30. During the event period, Shambles: The Green Abyss DLC will be available at a 10% discount, while Shambles: The Heirs of Apocalypse will be offered at a 50% discount.