For Krafton, its mobile business led the surge in revenue for the first half of 2022’s fiscal year. According to its quarterly earnings, the South Korean publisher made $730 million in revenue, and $551 million of that came from its mobile business during the first six months of the year.
Much of that mobile revenue can be attributed to PUBG: Battlegrounds (the game formerly known as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds). The incredibly popular battle royale shooter recently turned five years old, and its phone version was said by Krafton to rank second in sales for global mobile games.
Earlier this year during its first quarter financials, Krafton attributed part of PUBG Mobile’s success to the international market, in particular the special mobile version for India.
New State Mobile, Krafton’s other shooter that’s set in the same universe PUBG, is said to have increased its total play time and play frequency in the second quarter.
Although the $730 million is a 3 percent increase year-over-year, Krafton’s second quarter revenue of $326.5 million was a decrease compared to the same quarter in 2021. At $338 million, net profits for 2022’s first half saw “the highest half-year net profit the company has recorded to date.”
Krafton looks beyond Battlegrounds
In that same earnings report, Krafton drew attention to its upcoming original titles. The most immediate of which is The Callisto Protocol, due to release in December from Striking Distance Studios. Originally meant to be a part of the PUBG universeit’s since been confirmed by Striking Distance CEO Glen Schofield that the game will be in its own original setting.
Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds and its currently unknown new IP were mentioned in the report. Krafton acquired the studio in late 2021, and previously said it would “spare no effort” in helping Unknown’s brand expand.
Recently, Krafton announced that it had acquired the rights to develop and publish a game based on the popular Korean fantasy novel, The Bird That Drinks Tears by Yeong-do Lee. Early in development, Hollywood concept artist Iain McCaig is working with Krafton as the game’s design director.