PUBG announces major collaboration with G-DRAGON

Game publisher KRAFTON announced a joint collaboration with Korean artist G-DRAGON for both PUBG and PUBG Mobile.

The announcement was teased during G-DRAGON’s latest concert in Las Vegas, marking another crossover between the gaming and music worlds. For G-DRAGON, this is the first time the music artist joins a project in the gaming industry.

According to a release, KRAFTON will be pushing collaboration trailers through its official channels, along with the release of in-game content and special events starting on September 19th. More details will be revealed at a later date.

Additionally, there will be a special offline event that will take place in Seongsu, Seoul, to celebrate the collaboration. The release also stated that more offline global fan events are planned.

The collaboration appears to be more tailored towards PUG’s gaming ecosystem, with no esports-focused activations teased so far.

G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong, is a South Korean rapper and singer and one of the most influential figures in K-pop history. He debuted in 2006 as the leader of BIGBANG, one of the K-pop boy groups that pioneered and propelled Korean music culture globally.

G-DRAGON is the latest music artist that PUBG has worked with over the past years.

Earlier last month, KRAFTON had esports collaborations with virtual boy band PLAVE and K-pop girl group aespa for the PUBG Nations Cup (PNC), with the latter performing on stage during the event’s grand final.

Previously, the game publisher also worked with BABYMONSTER and Blackpink, although both collaborations didn’t feature esports-focused activations.

K-pop and gaming crossovers are not just related to PUBG. Tencent’s other game publisher, Riot Games, has worked with New Jeans (now known as NJZ) on the 2023 League of Legends World Championship anthem, ‘Gods’ and performed live during the Grand Final match in South Korea.

The game publisher also created its own virtual K-pop group K/DA, featuring Miyeon and Soyeon from the girl group (G)I-dle, and worked with members of KISS OF LIFE on the 2024 VCT’s official anthem.