PUBG’s Krafton hires ex-Apple, Samsung execs to grow faster

Krafton hired former executives from Apple, Samsung, and Epic Games. The company is eyeing faster expansion outside South Korea. The fresh appointment is driven to particularly target the Indian market, which has huge potential.

Krafton hires Apple, Samsung execs

Recently, Krafton hired Richard Yoon, who led Apple’s WW health business in Cupertino as head of strategy and global operation late last year. In May, the company appointed Thomas Ko, who led Samsung Pay’s global expansion, as head of its publishing platform.

The Korean game dev appointed Jin Oh, ex-president of Riot Games (known for League of Legends) as chief global publishing officer. Oh was managing director of Blizzard Entertainment Inc. known for the industry’s most acclaimed games such as Diablo.

“The appointment was a move to strengthen the competitiveness of overseas businesses through discovering intellectual property, expanding our publishing businesses,” said a Krafton official.

Jin Oh was the latest in a string of high-profile global information technology experts to join Krafton. The company is said to have tapped those executives with various overseas businesses to become the top game publisher in India.

Reports say that Krafton is planning to bring at least six titles this year where PUBG made a huge success. The company has secured IP for nine games this year for equity investments, after obtaining those for 10 titles in 2023, seven in 2022, and two in 2021.