AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 - KRAFTON, Inc. has announced South Korea as the champions of the PUBG Nations Cup 2023 (PNC 2023), defeating 15 other regions at the Sangam afreeca Colosseum in Seoul, South Korea. The team, consisting of Giyeol “seoul” Cho, Heejoo “Inonix” Na, Jungyoung “Loki” Park, Taesung “Heaven” Kim, and coach Myounggwan “ssonic” Shin, finished at the top position with a total of three Chicken Dinners out of eight podium finishes, and 172 points, to claim $100,000 in prize money after three days of intense PNC 2023 action. The team will also receive additional prize money from the Pick’em Challenge crowdfunding activation. Giyeol “seoul” Cho was named as the MVP with a total of 34 kills and 7,208 damage inflicted.
16 regions participated in PNC 2023, with a total of 64 players. United Kingdom, the winners of PNC 2022, finished 2nd, followed closely by Vietnam and Argentina. Other EMEA teams, Denmark, Germany and Turkiye, took 6th, 8th, and 9th places respectively. PNC 2023 followed the “point rule” structure that combines kill points and placement points. There were six matches per day with a total of 18 matches played on Erangel, Miramar, Taego, as well as Vikendi, a map that has made its debut in the global PUBG Esports events.
Team South Korea burst into the leading spot at the end of Match 11 and managed to maintain that position all the way to the finish line, leaving no room for speculation as to who was going to be crowned PNC 2023 champions. In contrast, team United Kingdom concluded the second day in 12th and demonstrated a remarkable comeback performance during the final day, climbing up 10 positions and even dislodging the stellar Vietnam to take second place at the end of the tournament.
On the final day of the event, KRAFTON unveiled a teaser trailer of the 10th map for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS. The trailer featured the game’s iconic character, Lone Survivor, alongside the phrase “THE CITY OF GLORY”. KRAFTON plans to follow up with more details about the new map ahead of its release.
More information on PUBG Esports is available at www.pubgesports.com and on official social media channels: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch and TikTok. Further assets and press releases are available on the official PUBG Esports press room.
More information on PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is available at https://pubg.com/en-eu and on official social media channels: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch and TikTok. Further assets and press releases are available on the official PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS press room.
Based out of South Korea, KRAFTON, Inc. is a collective of independent game development studios bound by a passion for creating innovative and engaging entertainment experiences for gamers worldwide. Founded in 2007, KRAFTON consists of PUBG STUDIOS, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings, Striking Distance Studios, Dreamotion, Unknown Worlds, 5minlab, Neon Giant and KRAFTON Montréal Studio, each with its own unique expertise.
KRAFTON is responsible for premier entertainment properties, including PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, The Callisto Protocol, NEW STATE MOBILE, Moonbreaker, TERA and ELYON. With a team of 3,000 members across nine countries, KRAFTON is a technology-driven company that boasts world-class capabilities as it seeks to expand its areas of business beyond games to multimedia entertainment and deep learning. For more information, visit www.krafton.com