The mobile version of PUBG Battlegrounds was responsible for 75 per cent of Krafton’s record-high revenue in Q1 2022, according to its latest financial report, which the company attributes to its extensive IP collaborations and live service systems.
Krafton reported $405.7 million revenue in this period – a 13.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase and record high in quarterly revenue – with an operating and net profit of $241.9 million and $190.2 million respectively.
Of this record quarterly revenue, PUBG Mobile accounted for $307.1 million, up only five per cent YoY but up 30 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Krafton attributed this success to “a number of in-game IP collaborations and robust live service systems”.
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Krafton were also ebullient about the near-tripling in QoQ MAU for its console and PC flagship, PUBG Battlegrounds, following its transition to F2P. As such, PUBG Battleground PC revenue reached $82.3 million.
The South Korea-headquartered studio detailed its upcoming titles, including ‘Project M’ and The Calisto Protocol, both due to be released this year, as well as the work “strengthening the Web3 business and establishing a joint venture with NAVER Z”, and a team “dedicated to NFT research” to develop a sandbox editing tool.
Alpha tests for the tool will take place in 2023, with “plans to make wide-ranging efforts to build the Create-to-earn ecosystem”.
Krafton’s investment in Web3 and blockchain gaming was earlier signified with the firm’s “long-term cooperative partnership” with Solana Labs in March 2023.