South Korean game developers spin off fashion brands

South Korean gaming companies are eyeing the fashion industry in a bid to diversify their revenue sources by broadening the fan base for their popular games.

Korean gaming giant Krafton Inc., famous for its global mega-hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), will introduce its own fashion brand, dubbed #100, during G-Star 2023, the annual global games expo, to be held in Busan, Korea, this Nov. 16-19, the company announced.

The company named its brand #100 by taking a cue from the PUBG game rule that allows up to 100 players to fight each other at once.

The developer of one of the world's most popular Battle Royale games will limit the sale of items under the #100 brand, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, outers, beanies and shoes, to 100 pieces each.

Each product's 100 pieces will be numbered from one to 100 to underscore their rarity, the company explained.

PARTNERSHIP WITH FASHION COMPANIES

Krafton has teamed up with Korea's premium sportswear brand Original Sports to produce PUBG game background-inspired street fashion wear that cater to the tastes of young fashionistas.

If #100 products are well-received, the gaming giant will consider opening permanent online and offline stores for the brand, it said.

Krafton hopes its fashion brand helps it connect with non-gamers through its limited-edition clothes so that it can diversify its revenue sources from gaming IP.

The company is expected to broaden its partnerships to embrace other fashion companies and develop new fashion brands using its different game IPs.

These fashion items differ from the usual gaming merchandise produced by outside vendors for one-time events, a Krafton official said.

“We have decided to run our own fashion brand to expand our IP business. We will actively partner with other fashion companies,” the official said.

GAMING IP APPLICATIONS BEYOND MEDIA  

Krafton is also experimenting with the application of its gaming IPs in other fields.

Last month, it opened a pop-up store in partnership with a restaurant in one of Seoul's trendy neighborhoods to allow both game fans and non-gamers to experience its game content.

With the increase in outdoor activities after the pandemic, it has become more important for gaming companies to diversify their offline touch points, said gaming industry experts, adding that finding the best way to use gaming IPs in non-gaming spaces is an important mission for game makers.

Krafton is not the only gaming company seeking to diversify game IP applications.

Earlier this month, Nexon Co. ran a pop-up store for its role-playing mobile game Blue Archive  for two weeks in one of Korea’s major department stores. Store visitors could buy game-themed pilot jackets, mufflers and caps.

And U.S. gaming company Blizzard Entertainment joined hands with Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster to roll out some fashion items in August, using its Overwatch 2 IP.

In October last year, it also took part in Korean fashion event Fashion Kode 2023 S/S with its game characters.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at 2juhyun@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.