Krafton acquires The Ascent developer Neon Giant

Publisher Krafton quietly revealed during its recent earnings release its planned acquisition of developer Neon Giant for an undisclosed fee. The Swedish studio marks another high-profile get for Krafton, joined by Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds and The Callisto Protocol maker Striking Distance Studios. 

Overall, it's Krafton's eighth independent studio, and follows the purchase of mobile developer 5minlab from this past February. Both of this year's acquisitions are part of Krafton's plan to "ensure a steady pipeline of premium titles."

Neon Giant (not to be confused with Neon White from earlier this year) opened its doors in 2018. Its debut title, the cyberpunk RPG The Ascent, released on Xbox and PC in 2021, followed by PlayStation earlier this year. 

According to Krafton's earnings slideshow, the developer's next project will be an open-world first-person shooter. 

In addition to Neon Giant's unannounced title, Krafton's future projects include a looter shooter codenamed "Black Budget," another Subnautica entry from Unknown Worlds, and a multiplayer shooter under the name "Project Roam."

Back in September, Unknown Worlds' released an Early Access version of its new tactical miniature game, Moonbreaker.

Beyond shooters, the publisher is establishing a studio in Canada that will develop a video game based on Yeong-do Lee's Korean fantasy novel, The Bird That Drinks Tears.