Korean internet leader Naver Corp. has formed a strategic alliance with game developer Krafton to enhance the media and content ecosystem related to the popular video game series PUBG: Battlegrounds.
The partnership, spanning the medium to long term, seeks to leverage the increasing convergence of livestreaming, online communities, and competitive gaming.
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Through a memorandum of understanding finalized, both companies aim to integrate Krafton's intellectual property for PUBG esports with Chzzk, Naver's exclusive video streaming service.
The integration will utilize Naver’s robust infrastructure and unique interactive viewing elements, including its co-watching feature, enabling creators and viewers to stream and discuss live matches simultaneously.
Naver plans to stream significant PUBG esports events directly on Chzzk and create official league collaborations. By combining Krafton's well-known game brand with Chzzk’s established creator network, the platform aims to create unique broadcasts that can expand its audience and enhance digital interaction.
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The corporate alignment additionally includes wider collaborative marketing and branding efforts in both digital and traditional realms. The partners intend to initiate fan-centered marketing campaigns throughout the broader Naver digital ecosystem during significant PUBG tournaments. Furthermore, the agreement creates a channel for Chzzk’s independent content creators to lawfully use Krafton's intellectual property to develop customized media assets for their specific fanbases.
“This agreement combines PUBG esports' competitive global branding with Chzzk's live-streaming and community capabilities”, says Shin Seul-gi, Naver’s head of game content alliances.
Park Soo-yong, the esports leader at Krafton, emphasized that broadening collaborations with outside media platforms such as Naver is a vital element of the publisher's approach to grow its audience and enhance its overall digital content competitiveness.
Earlier, Naver announced a collaboration with Nvidia to develop a large-scale, global artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, beginning with the expansion of its data center in Sejong.
The portal giant plans to utilize Nvidia's DSX platform to enlarge its Gak Sejong data center located in Sejong, central Korea, beginning with 55 megawatts by mid-2027, and will progressively increase its capacity internationally with intentions to reach a gigawatt scale, the IT firm announced.
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According to the company, one gigawatt is almost four times the highest data capacity of Naver's Gak Sejong center and can support hundreds of thousands of Nvidia's newest graphic processing units (GPUs).
Naver intends to join Nvidia's Nemotron Coalition, a worldwide partnership of open model creators and AI developers, to enhance its exclusive large language model, HyperCLOVA X.
The two firms will collaborate in the realm of physical AI as well, with Naver planning to create a "Seoul World Model" that merges its exclusive urban street-view data and spatial modeling technology with Nvidia’s Cosmos world foundation models.