Blue Ocean Games, Backed by KRAFTON, Expands Indie Game Investment

Jun 3, 2026

Blue Ocean Games has signed a partnership with global indie game publisher Folden Publishing to discover and co-invest in indie games.

Under this agreement, the two companies will co-invest in new indie titles identified through Folden Publishing's market validation methodology. Folden Publishing uses a data-driven approach to verify user demand and Steam wishlist trends before committing to full-scale production investment.

Blue Ocean Games is an early-stage venture fund with KRAFTON as an investor. It was founded by Managing Partner Lee Yong-seop, who served as an investment lead at KRAFTON from 2021 to 2023. The fund aims to move beyond traditional investment criteria to support the indie game ecosystem, helping games with unique concepts that might otherwise struggle to reach players get to market.

'Cartel Pilot Wanted,' a title that recently underwent Folden Publishing's validation marketing, recorded 400k Steam wishlists, while 'Totally Secure Airport' secured over 450k. Folden Publishing has generated over 1 million Steam wishlists in the pre-production investment phase, with a cumulative total of over 3 million wishlists across its entire portfolio.

To date, the company has released 10 games, selling over 600k units in the global market. It measures demand by running creator campaigns on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Twitch, focusing primarily on co-op games, survival games, simulators, and multiplayer genres.

"We were impressed not only by Folden Publishing's track record but also by their philosophy of rapidly testing ideas and identifying user demand early to provide developers with a clear path to success," said Lee Yong-seop, Managing Partner at Blue Ocean Games.

"We want to help developers move away from the traditional approach of spending years building a game without market feedback, and instead work with Blue Ocean Games to validate demand early and make smarter decisions," said Kirill Oreshkin, co-founder and CEO of Folden Publishing.

The two companies are now accepting applications from indie developers worldwide for game concept evaluation and testing. Interested developers can apply via the Blue Ocean Games official website.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of NC AI. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. [Read Original]