KRAFTON SURPASSES 2T KRW IN CUMULATIVE SALES THROUGH THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2024

KRAFTON Inc. has announced its earnings for the third quarter of 2024 in its investor relations (IR) briefing.  

Based on consolidated financial statements in accordance with Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS), KRAFTON reported sales of 719.3B KRW and operating profit of 324.4B KRW for the third quarter of 2024. This marks the highest ever on a quarterly basis, representing year-on-year increases of 269B KRW (+59.7 %) and 135.1B KRW (+71.4 %) in sales and operating profit, respectively.   

Cumulative sales up through the third quarter of this year reached 2.0922T KRW, surpassing 2T KRW in sales for the first time since the company’s founding. Cumulative operating profit also set a new record at 967B KRW. 

KRAFTON’s CFO, DK Bae, said: “Various services based on the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS (hereinafter referred to as PUBG) IP are showing remarkable growth in all areas, including sales and traffic.” He added, “The AI technology that we have developed through continuous investment and research has entered the implementation stage and is ready to have a full-scale roll out through various services, including inZOI.” 

Major achievements in the third quarter of 2024 

Based on its enhanced live service and updates, KRAFTON is accelerating the growth of the PUBG IP to offer new experiences to users worldwide. In the third quarter, global traffic and profitability improved further through map updates, new game modes, and various collaborations.  

For PC/console versions, the Lamborghini collaboration in July achieved the highest sales for a single item, while the Taego map update and the addition of the new mode ‘Hungers Left Behind’ in September resulted in a peak of 890,000 concurrent users. This sets a new traffic record after switching to F2P. On the mobile platform, sales performance continues to improve through new themed modes and efficient business model management. 

Major new titles, investments, and key businesses in India 

KRAFTON is pursuing a Scale-Up the Creative strategy to strengthen its position in the global market by actively discovering original game IPs across different platforms and genres. Under this strategy, the company is preparing several new titles, including inZOI, Dark and Darker Mobile, Subnautica 2, Project ARC, and Dinkum Together. inZOI and Dark and Darker Mobile  garnered significant attention at Gamescom in August, confirming enthusiastic responses from Western users. Subnautica 2 will introduce multiplayer co-op to offer an all-new gameplay experience. Project ARC and Dinkum Together will be unveiled for the first time at G-Star held this month.  

In the third quarter, a total of five investments were made to discover new IPs, including equity investments in game developers, securing opportunities in second-party publishing (2PP), and signing licensing deals. Notably, the company acquired the license to bring the Palworld IP, which gained global popularity since its release in 2024, to mobile devices. Currently, PUBG Studios is developing the mobile version of Palworld. Also, a new project is underway in collaboration with Day4Night, which consists of creators of various games, including the Mario + Rabbids series.  

In the Indian market, traffic continues to rise for Battlegrounds Mobile India (hereinafter referred to as BGMI) due to successfully expanding new users and providing localized content. BGMI is enhancing accessibility for the Indian users by expanding local languages for non-Hindi speakers and hosting large-scale Esports tournaments, which further increases traffic in India. Additionally, KRAFTON is strengthening its business portfolio in India through conducting local publishing business, with plans to release a localized version of Cookie Run within the year by partnering with DevSisters.  

Key new AI businesses 

KRAFTON recognized the potential of AI early on and has pursued research across diverse projects. In 2022, the company established the Deep Learning Division to secure key AI technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), vision & animation, speech recognition (STT/TTS), and reinforcement learning (RL). This led to the publication of numerous papers in prestigious AI conferences, including NeurIPS, ACL, and COLT.  

This year’s focus has been on applying accumulated AI technologies in actual games. KRAFTON’s inZOI has already introduced a 3D printer feature for the first time in the gaming industry, receiving positive response from users worldwide. The game also plans to introduce a whole new gaming experience through implementing SLM as a chatbot and motion generation technology.   

In the long run, KRAFTON aims to innovate gameplay experiences by developing a ‘CPC (Co-Playable Character)’ that can interact with users. Unlike the existing game NPCs, CPCs enjoy playing games and can converse and cooperate with users, allowing them to adapt flexibly to situations in a human-like manner. KRAFTON plans to expand the CPC technology to other games, including PUBG and inZOI.  

▲ Table: KRAFTON’s (preliminary) cumulative business results for the third quarter of 2024 based on consolidated financial statements (Unit: KRW 100M) 

▲ Table: KRAFTON’s (preliminary) business results for the third quarter of 2024 based on consolidated financial statements (Unit KRW 100M)