PUBG developer and blockchain firm Solana Labs

 

PUBG’s developer, Krafton, has teamed up with blockchain firm Solana Labs. The two firms will collaborate on the development, operation, design, and marketing of “blockchain- and NFT-based games and services,” according to the announcement. The Solana Blockchain is a blockchain developed by Solana Labs, an Ethereum competitor with the goal of providing fast transaction speeds at low costs.

 

Krafton’s entry into the blockchain gaming market comes a little over a month after it announced its desire to become involved in the space and stated that it would collaborate with Naver Z on “a new Web 3.0 and non-fungible token (NFT) project designed to construct an NFT metaverse platform.”

 

South Korean competition

 

The significance of these transactions is Krafton’s share price. According to The Financial Times, the company’s stock has dropped significantly this year amid fierce competition from Chinese rivals who have entered the South Korea market following a crackdown by regulators in Beijing. In response, Korean game developers are said to be rushing to develop “play-to-earn” games that employ blockchain technology in order to preserve income.

 

Krafton’s offers come as several Western developers have had to distance themselves from blockchain gaming items as a result of outrage from customers and creators like S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl developer GSC Game World, who publicly withdrew its plans to include NFTs into the forthcoming game.

 

Web 3.0

 

At this time, the Entertainment Blockchain Foundation hasn’t revealed which of its games will be equipped with blockchain features or whether they’ll be incorporated into PUBG’s main series. After becoming free to play, the PC version of the game experienced a surge in popularity earlier this year, while PUBG Mobile has been downloaded over 1 billion times.  “We will continue to collaborate with blockchain firms like Solana Labs as we work towards building our Web 3.0 ecosystem,” said Hyungchul Park, who organized the Web 3.0 roundtable for Krafton.

 

“Solana is the pinnacle of the Web 3.0 ecosystem, with its own blockchain-based technologies. Krafton will gain the knowledge it needs to invest in and produce blockchain-based experiences faster as a result of this collaboration.”