SEOUL — Krafton Inc., a prominent South Korean game developer, reported a more than 165 percent surge in its net income for the second quarter, driven by unprecedented sales volumes, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday. The surge was largely fueled by the continued success of its flagship game, PUBG: Battlegrounds.
According to Yonhap News Agency, net income for the April to June period reached 341.4 billion won ($248.9 million), a significant rise from the 128.5 billion won recorded a year earlier. Operating income saw a substantial increase of 152.5 percent year-over-year, reaching 332.1 billion won. Total sales for the quarter climbed by 82.6 percent to a record 707 billion won, marking the highest quarterly sales figure in the company's history.
Krafton's financial performance exceeded market expectations, with analysts' average net profit estimate standing at 180.1 billion won, based on a survey by Yonhap Infomax. The company attributes its robust earnings to the sustained popularity of both the mobile and PC versions of PUBG: Battlegrounds globally, with particularly strong performance noted in India due to localized game content.
The company also highlighted significant user growth, with monthly active users for the PC and console versions of Battlegrounds increasing by 40 percent year-over-year in the first half. Krafton is planning to capitalize on this momentum by launching two new titles later this year: an extraction role-playing game "Dark and Darker Mobile" and a life simulation game "inZOI." Additionally, the company has invested in 11 game studios during the first half of the year to expand its portfolio of intellectual properties.