Director Eun-seok Lee has officially begun development on his next project at Krafton. Krafton was confirmed to be preparing the establishment of a new unit, "Paparang Studio," centered around Director Lee. After joining in February and remaining in the concept review phase, Director Lee has begun forming a dedicated development organization after roughly seven months.
Director Lee is a first-generation game developer who spent over 20 years making games at Nexon. He participated in the development of 'Mabinogi' and oversaw the development of 'Vindictus', winning six awards including the Grand Prize at the 2010 Korea Game Awards. He later led the open-world survival MMORPG 'Durango: Wild Lands' and the medieval PvP action title 'Warhaven'. He is recognized as a developer who has continuously pursued experimental attempts regardless of genre.
Director Lee, who left Nexon in November 2025, joined Krafton in February 2026. At the end of April, when news of his arrival surfaced, Krafton responded to press inquiries by stating, "It is true that former Director Eun-seok Lee has joined Krafton," adding, "Currently, his specific role and development-related duties have not been decided." At the time, Director Lee was reported to be adapting to the organization while reviewing several new project proposals. The formation of Paparang Studio can be seen as the result of those reviews leading into a dedicated development unit.
It has not yet been disclosed what kind of game Paparang Studio is developing.
Director Lee's arrival is an extension of Krafton's talent acquisition strategy aimed at finding its next major IP after 'PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS'. On January 21, Krafton announced that it would expand its creative studios to 19. In 2025 alone, the company recruited 15 production leaders, some of whom took charge of new studios.
Former Nexon executive Seong-hun Kim leads 9B Studio, while Noh Jung-hwan, also a former vice president at Nexon, leads OmniCraft Labs. CEO Hyeong-uk Bae, who previously managed the CookieRun series, founded Loonshot Games, and CEO Chang-myung Lee, who led the Anipang series, established Olivetree Games.
Krafton stated plans to operate 26 new title pipelines and launch 12 games within two years. The strategy involves securing a core fanbase first in proven markets and building successful projects into franchise IPs. Director Lee, who established the Vindictus IP at Nexon, is now adding a new project to this pipeline.
