KRAFTON Achieves Record-high Sales of 1.3729T KRW (788.9M GBP) in the First Half of 2024
12 August 2024 - 8:07PM
Business Wire
- Records sales of 1.3729T KRW (788.9M GBP), Operating Profit
of 642.6B KRW (369.2M GBP) and Net Income of 690B KRW (396.5M GBP)
for the first half of the year
- Reports sales of 707B KRW (406.2M GBP), OP of 332.1B KRW
(190.8M GBP) and NI of 341.4B KRW (196.1 GBP) for the second
quarter of the year
- Plans to continue expanding core IP business and discovering
IPs with high growth potential through active investments
KRAFTON Inc. (CEO CH Kim, KRX: 259960) held a conference call
for investor relations (IR) briefing today and announced its
earnings for the first half and the second quarter of 2024.
Based on consolidated financial statements in accordance with
Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS),
KRAFTON reported cumulative sales of 1.3729T KRW (788.9M GBP) and
operating profit of 642.6B KRW (369.2M GBP) for the first half of
2024. Both sales and operating profit were the highest ever on a
half-yearly basis, showing 48.3% and 55.0% year-on-year increases,
respectively. The second-quarter sales amounted to 707B KRW (406.2M
GBP), setting a new record for quarterly sales following the first
quarter, and the operating profit was 332.1B KRW (190.8M GBP).
These figures represent year-on-year increases of 82.7% and 152.6%,
respectively.
KRAFTON has maintained solid growth in all areas, including
sales and traffic, through various live services leveraging PUBG:
BATTLEGROUNDS (hereinafter referred to as PUBG). Additionally,
KRAFTON has been raising the quality of the development for major
new titles, such as Dark and Darker Mobile and inZOI, with a total
of 11 investments in game studios in the first half of the year
alone to discover new IPs.
Major achievements in the first half of 2024
PUBG has received positive responses from users worldwide
through various content, such as map updates and collaborations,
resulting in increased traffic and sales efficiency compared to the
same period last year.
For PC/console versions, traffic continued to rise due to mainly
the Erangel Classic map service and the NewJeans collaboration. The
monthly active users (MAU) grew by 40% year-on-year, and the number
of paying users more than doubled. In the second half of the year,
KRAFTON plans to accelerate growth with in-game updates, including
the Lamborghini collaboration.
On the mobile platform, ‘PUBG Mobile’ and ‘Battlegrounds Mobile
India (hereinafter referred to as BGMI)’ have consistently received
positive feedback through localised content and have shown visible
growth through the enhancement of monetisation models. ‘PUBG
Mobile’ has contributed significantly to traffic and sales through
collaboration with a popular Middle Eastern actor and the
introduction of progressive outfit skins. BGMI is also attracting
new users through UC bonus challenges and collaboration with a
popular local cricket team.
Introduction of major new title lineups
KRAFTON is preparing two titles, Dark and Darker Mobile and
inZOI, aiming for release this year. Both titles will be showcased
at gamescom in Germany at the end of this month to gauge the
reactions of the Western audience. Dark and Darker Mobile recently
conducted a global test, and based on the results of this test, the
game will be further enhanced for a soft launch in Canada in
October, with a global launch scheduled for the fourth quarter of
this year. inZOI is focused on development with the goal of early
access this year, while also aiming to grow into a long-standing IP
in the life simulation genre, which has already proven popular in
the Western market.
KRAFTON is accelerating equity investments and new IP discovery
to diversify platforms and genres. Since 2021, the company invested
in 27 companies, including 14 in North America and 8 in Europe, and
also expanded the genres of the acquired games to include shooters,
RPG and simulation. Additionally, in August, KRAFTON acquired the
development team of a Japanese game developer, Tango Gameworks.
Key new businesses in India and AI
Based on the experience and know-how accumulated in India
through BGMI, KRAFTON is conducting local publishing business in
full-scale. The company is expanding its interactions with local
users through marketing activities and esports operations tailored
to various local languages and cultures.
KRAFTON also continues to explore new gameplay experiences based
on its AI R&D capabilities. In the first half of this year,
KRAFTON’s ReLU Games introduced two games utilising AI and received
positive responses from famous streamers and users. In the second
half of this year, the company plans to release new titles using
reinforcement learning and large language models (LLM) to provide
users with unique and enjoyable experiences.
KRAFTON’s mid-to-long-term direction
KRAFTON plans to discover original games and IPs and create a
service that grows steadily through continuous improvement and
content updates. The company plans to expand the PUBG IP Franchise
business and identify high-potential IPs through various methods,
including in-house development, minority investments and
M&As.
Current half-year performance
(2024 1H)
YoY performance
(2023 1H)
YoY % change
Sales
13,729
9,257
48.3
OP
6,426
4,145
55.0
NI
6,900
3,957
74.4
Table: KRAFTON’s (preliminary)
business results for the first half of 2024 based on consolidated
financial statements (Unit: KRW 100M)
Current quarter performance
(2024 2Q)
QoQ performance
(2024 1Q)
QoQ % change
YoY performance
(2023 2Q)
YoY % change
Sales
7,070
6,659
6.2
3,871
82.7
OP
3,321
3,105
7.0
1,315
152.6
NI
3,414
3,486
-2.1
1,285
165.7
Table: KRAFTON’s (preliminary)
business results for the second quarter of 2024 based on
consolidated financial statements (Unit: KRW 100M)
Editor’s note: South Korean Won (KRW) to British Pound (GBP)
conversions based on 9 August 2024 exchange rate for this press
release. 1KRW = 0.00057GBP
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240812683479/en/
KRAFTON Inc. Wonseok Kang onething@krafton.com