The AscentdeveloperNeon Gianthas been acquired by PUBG: Battlegrounds company Krafton. Krafton has eight other subsidiary studios, including not just PUBG Studios but alsoThe Callisto Protocoldeveloper Striking Distance Studios andSubnauticastudio Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Krafton’s been on a stretch of acquisitions since 2021, and it seems it isn’t slowing.Neon Giantis just the latest to be picked up by the major South Korean company.
Neon Giant was founded in 2018 by a team of industry veterans with past experience working onBulletstorm,Wolfenstein, andDoom. Based in Sweden, the studio used a substantial investment from Amplifier Game Invest followed by a grant from Epic Games to make a project with Unreal Engine 4. It tookthree years to createThe Ascentwith a team of just eleven, an impressive accomplishment given the scale ofThe Ascent. Sales ofThe Ascentare unclear, but publisher Curve Digital is calling its launch a success.
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Confirmation of the acquisition was shared as part of Krafton’s latest earnings report which was released on Friday. No further details regarding the acquisition have yet been revealed, so there’s no word on how muchKraftonpaid or how much of the ownership Krafton purchased. The acquisition hasn’t even been mentioned by Neon Giant itself, which makes the situation somewhat odd. Perhaps Neon Giant is simply hard at work on its next project.
Regarding Neon Giant’s next project, Krafton did provide some information regarding what the team is working on. Krafton says that Neon Giant is working on an open-world first-person shooter. ConsideringThe Ascentis an isometric ARPGmore akin toDiablothanFar Cry, this is a major shift in direction for the company. Given the experience of Neon Giant’s team, though, perhaps this was always the plan.
The much larger scope of Neon Giant’s next project, just based on its genre, could explain Krafton’s acquisition. Neon Giant may have sought out funding to grow its development team and to fund ongoing development, only for the best offer to be for Krafton to acquire the company. Krafton’s support will likely allow Neon Giant to create a game as big as it wants.
Some might worry whether Krafton’s acquisition of Neon Giant will have negative consequences, and that’s not unfair. Krafton has dissolved or closed multiple teams in the past decade, including itsEn Masse Entertainmentpublishing wing and multiple mobile game development studios. It’s possible that Neon Giant sold the company out of desperation, but that’s obviously a worst-case scenario. Fans should be patient and look forward to the announcement ofNeon Giant’s next game for an indication of its future.
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