Korean Game Firm Krafton to Acquire Ad Agency & Anime Sponsor ADK
Asatsu, Inc. merged with Dai-Ichi Kikaku Co., Ltd. to form Asatsu-DK (ADK) in 1999 and become Japan's third-largest advertising agency. Asatsu and Dai-Ichi Kikaku were involved with production of anime such as Mazinger Z, Kyojin no Hoshi, and Yōkai Ningen Bem. ADK has been involved with production of various Precure, Gundam, Doraemon, and Crayon Shin-chan anime. Boston-based investment firm Bain Capital purchased ADK in March 2018.ADK divided itself into ADK Holdings, ADK Marketing Solutions, and ADK Creative One as part of a restructuring in January 2019. At the same time, it also established the subsidiary ADK Emotions. ADK Holdings oversees the other three companies. ADK Marketing Solutions focuses on business and marketing, while ADK Creative One focuses on creative works for the advertising company. ADK Emotions focuses on IP management, which includes anime.ADK acquired 84.01% of shares in animation studio Gonzo in 2016. Gonzo executed an "absorption-type company split" in July 2019, and transferred a portion of its business to Studio KAI. ADK acquired all of the anime financing and rights management company d-rights (B-Daman, Beyblade) from its former co-owner Mitsubishi Corporation in December 2018, making it is a wholly owned subsidiary. ADK had acquired a 51% share of the company in 2015. The agency also established Anime Consortium Japan with Bandai Namco Holding Inc. and Aniplex Inc. in 2014. ADK also owns animation studio Eiken, among other companies.Krafton is the owner of PUBG Studios, the developers of the popular battle royale shooter PUBG: Battlegrounds, which Krafton also published. Krafton published The Callisto Protocol, which was originally intended to be a spinoff of PUBG: Battlegrounds. Krafton acquired the Tango Gameworks game studio (The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Hi-Fi Rush), as well as the IP rights to the studio's Hi-Fi Rush game from Microsoft, in August 2024. Krafton signed a licensing agreement with Japanese game developer Pocketpair for the IP of its Palworld game in October 2024 in order to expand the game's IP to the mobile platform. Source: Reuters via Hachima Kikō
