South Korean esports conglomerate KRAFTON has named esports media platform ONE Esports its official media partner.
As part of the agreement, ONE Esports will manage the production and distribution of coverage for all PUBG: Battlegrounds esports tournaments run by KRAFTON in 2023.
ONE Esports will produce and distribute content in local languages, including short-form video and written content. The company will have access to professional teams and players to make exclusive behind-the-scenes content.
ONE Esports is a subsidiary group of Group ONE Holdings, one of Asia’s biggest media companies.
Carlos Alimurung, ONE Esports CEO, commented: “We are excited to work with KRAFTON to bring our community high-quality coverage of PUBG Esports tournaments in 2023.
“With KRAFTON’s ever-growing, action-packed competitive ecosystem, supported by our global media platform and experienced content team, we look forward to delivering a thrilling storytelling experience for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and esports fans worldwide.”
Earlier this year, ONE Esports also extended its partnership with Korean League of Legends series LCK. Moreover, the company launched a mobile app in collaboration with electronic manufacturer Samsung.
The PUBG franchise has had major trouble staying available in some countries, particularly India, where KRAFTON has a major presence. The South Asian nation banned PUBG: Mobile (Battlegrounds Mobile India) in 2022 citing national security concerns after tensions rose between it and China. However, recently the game has been unbanned.
Chinese conglomerate Tencent, which is partially owned by the Chinese government, owns a part of KRAFTON.
Both PUBG Mobile and PUBG: Battlegrounds have embraced esports partnership programmes of late, following the model of VALORANT’s VCT, which doesn’t require large up-front payments.
