Krafton (259960.KQ) is teaming up with fashion platform Musinsa and street fashion brand 999 Humanity to launch a joint marketing campaign that links in-game items in "PUBG Mobile" with physical clothing. The strategy aims to strengthen the value of the PUBG intellectual property (IP), which marks the 10th anniversary of the original game's release next year, while discovering and attracting new game users through collaborations with a range of companies that break down industry boundaries.
According to the information technology (IT) and fashion industries on the 13th, Krafton has signed a three-way business agreement with clothing platform Musinsa and street fashion brand 999 Humanity to conduct joint marketing. First, in-game content will be released in "PUBG Mobile" featuring costume skins modeled after 999 Humanity's products and the Musinsa brand name. At the same time, physical clothing inspired by PUBG will be produced and sold at the Musinsa store.
In other words, it is a two-way collaboration that renders a fashion brand's products as in-game costumes while also moving the game IP back into physical goods. Users can continue the same brand experience in both the game and reality, while Krafton and Musinsa can expose their content and products to each other's customer bases. As all three companies are based in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, various offline activities such as pop-up stores are expected to follow.
The main target of this collaboration is people in their 20s and 30s, where the two companies' core customer bases overlap. "We planned the release of a collaboration collection between PUBG Mobile and our partner brands, targeting customers in their 20s and 30s at the Musinsa store," a Musinsa official said. Krafton expects to draw participation from existing users while also raising awareness of the PUBG IP among new customers with a strong interest in fashion.
In other words, it is a two-way collaboration that renders a fashion brand's products as in-game costumes while also moving the game IP back into physical goods. Users can continue the same brand experience in both the game and reality, while Krafton and Musinsa can expose their content and products to each other's customer bases. As all three companies are based in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, various offline activities such as pop-up stores are expected to follow.
The main target of this collaboration is people in their 20s and 30s, where the two companies' core customer bases overlap. "We planned the release of a collaboration collection between PUBG Mobile and our partner brands, targeting customers in their 20s and 30s at the Musinsa store," a Musinsa official said. Krafton expects to draw participation from existing users while also raising awareness of the PUBG IP among new customers with a strong interest in fashion.
In the gaming industry, Krafton is regarded as the company pursuing the most active collaboration strategy. PUBG has previously collaborated with global mobility brands such as Kia, McLaren and Bugatti, as well as top-tier artists including aespa, NewJeans and G-Dragon, and sports stars such as Son Heung-min and Neymar. It has also steadily continued IP fusion with famous animation characters including Catch! Teenieping, Naruto and Blue Lock.
As a result, collaboration content has established itself as an asset that repeatedly generates revenue, going beyond simply drawing attention. According to Krafton, PUBG IP franchise revenue in the first quarter of this year rose 24% from a year earlier, surpassing 1 trillion won in a quarter for the first time. "Collaborations of the PUBG IP provide users with a continuous reason to engage, and they are part of a long-term strategy to expand into a single content platform," a Krafton official explained. "By broadening the scope of collaborations, we are boosting both buzz and traffic at the same time."
Meanwhile, led by Krafton, such cross-industry collaborations are becoming a mainstream trend in the gaming industry. Devsisters ran a "Cookie Run Local Adventure" campaign that visited various regions in cooperation with local governments in Korea last year and the year before. Netmarble also attempted a collaboration linking its baseball game "MagumaguMagu 2026" with the baseball variety program "Flame Baseball Season 2." Among global game companies, HoYoverse, the developer of "Genshin Impact," drew attention with joint marketing that crossed industry boundaries, including Samsung Galaxy, Mom's Touch, Mega Coffee and Bacchus.
"A collaboration strategy raises the loyalty of existing users while also having a re-energizing effect that helps new users flow into established IP that could otherwise become stale," said Kim Jung-tae, a professor in the game department at Dongyang University. "For a global long-lasting IP like 'Pokemon' to emerge in the Korean game market as well, such attempts across various fields must continue."
