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Publisher Krafton has invested 8 billion won ($6.7 million USD) in two digital art subsidiaries held by Seoul Auction. Krafton may be looking to jointly develop Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that can be sold online. According to a report by Korea Joongang Daily, 3 billion won ($2.5 million) will go to Seoul Auction Blue while 5 billion won ($4.2 million) will go to XXBLUE, which are the two Seoul Auction subsidiaries Krafton is investing in.
Krafton’s investment into NFTs will be led by Bluehole Studios
In exchange for the investment, Krafton will receive 5% stake in Seoul Auction Blue and 11% in XXBLUE. The two Seoul Auction subsidiaries and Krafton signed an agreement on 27th January to create NFT avatars which will be sold on online platforms.
Seoul Auction Blue is an online art trading platform by Seoul Auction where buyers can purchase digital artwork and NFTs. XXBLUE is an NFT trading service also owned by Seoul Auction.
The new project by Krafton will be led by its subsidiary Bluehole Studio, the company behind the Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) franchise. Seoul Auction will be responsible for the marketing and promotion of the avatars once they are ready for potential customers.
What Are Non-Fungible Tokens?
NFTs or non-fungible tokens can be any form of media that you can essentially buy online. It can be artwork, music or videos among other things. NFTs can be purchased using cryptocurrency in most cases and all transactions are verified to ensure the owner of an NFT always has proof of ownership.
NFTs have been in the midst of controversy recently with a number of gaming publishers looking to dive into the craze surrounding them. Riot Games recently had to apologize after accidentally sharing an NFT artwork. The Valorant publisher had to clarify that it did not seek to promote NFTs.
While Riot Games is steering away from NFTs at the moment, other publishers like Ubisoft and Konami are diving head first into the NFT space. With Krafton investing in the NFT space, it remains to be seen what fan reception is like from its fans.
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