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PUBG developer Krafton is made an equity investment of ₩120 billion ($89.5 million) into South Korean streaming firm Spoon Labs.
The company operates Spoon, which provides a platform for audio-only live streams and podcasts. The firm also recently expanded into short-form video with new streaming platform Vigloo, which allows users to share their own content.
Krafton said the investment was driven by the “growth potential” of the short-form video drama market. It added that the opportunity to secure new sources of IP was another factor in the deal.
The move represents the publisher’s largest investment into a non-gaming company.
Short-form drama
Following the deal, Spoon Labs aims to begin releasing original Japanese content and increasing marketing activities in the US and Japan.
“Spoon Labs has already proven its strong overseas business capabilities through Spoon over the past few years,” said Krafton CEO CH Kim.
“We look forward to creating entertainment that people worldwide can enjoy together and establishing a robust industry ecosystem within the new short-form drama platform business.”
Spoon Labs CEO Hyukjae Choi added: “We have been strengthening our position as a global content platform company by expanding our business from audio to video. We plan to enter the US and Japanese markets soon, and together with Krafton, we will establish a new international standard in the short-form drama sector.”
Fall and rise
According to AppMagic estimates, Vigloo has generated 203,000 downloads for its mobile app to date. The Spoon app, meanwhile, has accumulated 34.5 million installs.
A famous example of a company entering the short-form streaming space was US company Quibi. Founded in 2018, the firm raised nearly $2 billion, but shut down in 2020 after failing to attract enough customers in the months after its launch.
Variety reported earlier this year that short-form dramas were rising in popularity in China. It said, citing Nikkei Asia, that the most successful productions could make tens of millions of dollars within just days of release.
