Look, let's be honest about expanding horizons—Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-gyu took to the stage at the COEX Auditorium in Seoul on the 28th to deliver a keynote for the demo day of the 2026 Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition. Under the banner of 'Expansion to Infinity', Chang emphasized the sheer weight of choices that push beyond comfortable boundaries to chase fresh possibilities. Hosted by the Asan Nanum Foundation and marking its 15th year, the competition took 'Infinite' as its core theme, drawing inspiration from the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung's timeless maxim: 'Human potential is infinite.'

Chang kicked off the talk by musing on how human finitude naturally forces us to grapple with the infinite. Reflecting on preparing a congratulatory speech for the groundbreaking ceremony of Krafton's Seongsu-dong headquarters, Chang noted how the personal thoughts and beliefs poured into a building can easily outlast both the creator and the company. Looking back on personal milestones in expanding potential, Chang offered a rather counterintuitive choice: 'giving up'. Sharing university memories of pushing hard at mathematics only to hit a brick wall, Chang explained that rerouting career paths can often serve as the ultimate catalyst for new horizons. Dedicating years afterwards to software development eventually translated into solid, tangible growth.

Recalling the co-founding days at Neowiz, Chang described how the sheer joy of building things alongside brilliant peers fueled deep immersion and growth. Stepping away from the company after roughly a decade was, in hindsight, just another exercise in breaking out of familiar territory to hunt for uncharted potential. Chang pointed squarely to the global stage as the premier arena for stretching those boundaries. Lessons learned from the rocky North American rollout of the MMORPG TERA provided the foundational intuition needed to gauge the massive potential of PUBG: Battlegrounds. Furthermore, Chang championed the critical importance of 'Heritage'—respecting, inheriting, and nurturing the raw originality of creators.

Beyond traditional games and physical AI, Chang revealed that Krafton is currently diving headfirst into novel AI ventures, framing these moves as bold steps outside familiar comfort zones to chase new frontiers. "Possibility always begins by stepping away from where you feel comfortable," Chang noted, adding that a personal commitment to ditching the comfort zone remains an ongoing journey. To wrap things up, Chang urged all participants to use the competition as a launchpad to push their own boundaries even further.