Krafton has reported sales of KRW 450.3 billion, operations of KRW 189.3 billion and net profit of KRW 211.6 billion in the third quarter of 2023 (3Q23) in accordance with the Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS).

Sales and operations both climbed 16% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 44% QoQ, respectively. This translates into 4% year-over-year (YoY) and 31% YoY, respectively.

“The achievement in sales and OP is largely attributed to the stable revenue generated across all platforms by PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS IP. On PC/Console, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS updated its classic maps Miramar and Erangel and introduced new weapon Dragunov, offering new gameplay experiences to users in 3Q23,” the company said.

The company made sales of KRW 133.3 billion on PC/Console and on mobile, sales picked up 26% QoQ and 9% YoY to KRW 309.1 billion driven by PUBG MOBILE’s Dragon Ball Super collaboration and the resumption of BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI) services.

How India helped Krafton post profit

In India, hosting large-scale Esports competitions and providing localised content helped sales and traffic return to the previous levels while the game has further solidified its position as the most popular game in the Indian market with the steady inflow of new users.

With its direction of “Scale-Up the Creative” since early-2023, Krafton has been enhancing its publishing capabilities and focusing on new IP acquisition.

This year, up until the third quarter, Krafton has made equity investments in a total of 13 global studios, focusing on strengthening publishing capabilities and acquiring new IPs. As such, the number of global studios in which Krafton has invested since going public has increased to 21.

“Krafton is growing steadily based on the ongoing potential of the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS IP,” said Dongkeun Bae, CFO of Krafton.

Krafton’s upcoming games

Krafton’s new titles are set to launch starting from 2024. Among these, ‘Dark and Darker Mobile,’ an extraction RPG independently developed by Bluehole Studio, and ‘inZOI,’ a life simulation game, will be the first to debut.

“Moving forward, Krafton aims to become a company known for launching major new titles and highly anticipated games every year, by expanding our pipeline aggressively with our own game development and second-party publishing,” Bae added.

Furthermore, the company is is also looking to launch an extraction shooter genre game, ‘Project Black Budget,’ which is being developed by PUBG STUDIOS and scheduled for launch in second half of 2024.