Krafton posted its highest quarterly results on record, powered by growth in the Battlegrounds (PUBG) intellectual property (IP). Expansion of content through the India market and global collaborations is seen as lifting the numbers.
Krafton said on the 30th that it posted preliminary consolidation results for the first quarter of 1.3714 trillion won in revenue and 561.6 billion won in operating profit. Revenue rose 56.9% and operating profit increased 22.8% from a year earlier. It is the highest performance on record on a quarterly basis.
By business institutional sector, revenue was 363.9 billion won for PC, 702.7 billion won for mobile, 13.8 billion won for console, and 291.0 billion won for other. PUBG IP franchise revenue increased 24% from a year earlier, topping 1 trillion won in quarterly revenue for the first time.
On PC, an Aston Martin collaboration event held for the ninth anniversary of Battlegrounds drove revenue. In the mobile institutional sector, a collaboration with the German hypercar brand "Apollo Automobil" also fueled growth. Investment in server expansion in the India market and hosting official mobile leagues also had a positive impact on results.
Krafton will continue its growth strategy by expanding the PUBG IP. In April, it released the new "Xeno Point" mode, and in May it plans to roll out content based on the "PAYDAY" IP.
It will also nurture new IP in parallel. "inZOI," released last year, will pursue content enhancement and expansion to console platforms for the long-term vision. The open-world survival crafting game "Subnautica 2" is nearing early access release.
It will continue to advance game experiences using AI technology. Krafton plans to apply four "Raon" Multimodal AI models, unveiled in April, to its games. The company said the Raon models will be tailored to each game's characteristics and used to deliver new gameplay experiences.
Meanwhile, under the shareholder return policy released in February, Krafton acquired 200.0 billion won of treasury shares in the first quarter and paid 99.6 billion won in dividends. In the second quarter, it plans to buy an additional 100.0 billion won in treasury shares and cancel them all.