This photo provided by Krafton Inc. shows promotional material for the company’s new life simulation game inZOI. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Krafton Inc. announced Tuesday that it achieved record-high quarterly revenue in the first quarter of 2025, driven by the sustained success of PUBG: Battlegrounds and the strong early performance of its newly launched life simulation game inZOI.
According to its regulatory filing, Krafton’s operating profit reached 457.3 billion won ($334 million) in the first quarter, a 47.3% increase from the same period a year earlier. The figure exceeded the market consensus, compiled by Yonhap Infomax, by 17.3%. Revenue rose 31.3% year-on-year to 874.2 billion won, while net profit grew 6.6% to 371.5 billion won.
By platform, Krafton posted 323.5 billion won in PC revenue, 532.4 billion won in mobile revenue, and 18.3 billion won from consoles and other sources.
The PC segment benefited not only from the continued live-service success of PUBG but also from the early access launch of inZOI on March 28. On the mobile side, premium item sales and IP collaborations helped bolster earnings, with the India-specific Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) playing a key role following tie-ups with brands such as the Mahindra Group.
PUBG: Battlegrounds (Image provided by Krafton)
Krafton views India as a strategic growth market and is actively exploring opportunities to develop a second major hit following BGMI.
Looking ahead, Krafton is expanding its IP-based portfolio with several new titles, including Project Black Budget (an extraction shooter), Project Valor (a console game), and PUBG: Blindspot (a top-down tactical shooter). The company is also preparing to upgrade PUBG with Unreal Engine 5 and introduce user-generated content features under its “PUBG 2.0″ initiative.
Jang Tae-seok, Krafton’s Head Producer for PUBG IP, said during Tuesday’s earnings call that the Unreal Engine 5 version is currently in pre-production, with new user-participatory content updates scheduled to roll out in phases starting later this year.
Leading this list of non-owning stock millionaires are executives from Krafton, the company behind the global hit game “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.” (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Jang also confirmed that Project Black Budget, being developed jointly by studios in Amsterdam and Seoul, would undergo additional external testing following its first closed trials in early 2025.
“Very few game IPs sustain global fan enthusiasm for more than a decade,” Jang said. “We are determined to further strengthen PUBG’s identity and expand its influence beyond games into a full-fledged franchise IP.”
inZOI posted record-breaking sales for a Krafton title, moving over one million units within a week of its March 28 launch — 95% of which came from overseas markets. Krafton plans to enhance the Co-Playable Character (CPC) technology featured in inZOI and grow the title into a long-term global franchise.
Addressing concerns over a decline in concurrent user numbers for inZOI, CFO Bae Dong-geun noted that such metrics are less significant for a single-player title. “What’s more important is how sales respond to major updates or downloadable content releases, and how the title rebounds with its full launch next year,” he said.
Krafton is also diversifying its content lineup. Upcoming titles include Dinkum Together, developed by Five Min Lab, and Subnautica 2, developed by Krafton’s U.S.-based subsidiary Unknown Worlds, which is scheduled for early access release later this year.
“Given the original Subnautica sold over eight million units, we have high expectations for its sequel,” Bae said. “Like inZOI, it will be a project developed hand-in-hand with our fan community.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
