BW Gaming World
KRAFTON Inc. (CEO CH Kim) announced its first half of 2022 preliminary earnings at the earnings call on August 11.
KRAFTON recorded its sales for the first half of 2022 at KRW 946.7 billion, OP at KRW 474.2 billion and NP at KRW 439.2 billion on a cumulative basis in accordance with the Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS). Sales climbed 3 per cent YoY with OP up 18 per cent YoY and NP up 31 per cent YoY. In particular, it reached 50.1 per cent of OPM in the first half of 2022, and the highest half-yearly NP in the company’s history, showing solid performance. As the second quarter is a typical off-season, the firm posted sales at KRW 423.7 billion and OP at KRW 162.3 billion, slightly down YoY. However, NP spiked 37 per cent YoY to KRW 194 billion.
The mobile business posted the first half of 2022 sales of KRW 715.6 billion, accounting for 76 per cent of the total. PUBG MOBILE, which was released four years ago, has taken second place in terms of sales in the global mobile game market. As such, the efficiency of its sales has been steadily rising. The company has continuously provided a fresh gameplay experience to users by launching IP collaborations, releasing new maps and introducing new items and has improved the gameplay environment with the adoption of stricter anti-cheat programs, thereby gaining positive user sentiments. NEW STATE MOBILE also stepped up repositioning efforts, including reshuffling live organizational structure and IP collaborations, and as a result, the total play time and frequency increased in the second quarter of 2022.
The PC/Console version, which marks six years of service, has maintained lofty traffic even after the free-to-play (F2P) shift with the steady inflow of more than 80,000 new users per day. Accordingly, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) for PC/Console jumped 20 per cent QoQ. Overseas sales claimed 94 per cent of the total in the second quarter of 2022 while KR, Americas, Europe and other regions made up an increasingly heavier sales weighting. As such, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS IP has sustained its solid global presence.
KRAFTON will continuously focus on game development in the second half of this year. At Gamescom 2022 to be held in end-August in Cologne, Germany, the firm plans to showcase the unreleased videos of its new titles such as The Callisto Protocol and Project M and to provide the game demo to visitors. Starting with Gamescom, KRAFTON will unveil new, compelling IPs that it is currently working on in NA while showing off its game development and publishing capabilities, thereby expanding its mid to long-term influence in the game industry.
In addition, KRAFTON will work on a project to expand the IP of the fantasy novel ‘The Bird That Drinks Tears’ in full swing. The firm presented the Unannounced Project, which is a new project on The Bird That Drinks Tears and plans to release the visual R&D results that it has been working on for two years in an artbook format by the end of this year. Furthermore, the company will embark on a journey to provide new gameplay experiences to gamers across the globe by releasing the graphic novels that it is currently working with Iain McCaig in the first half of 2023.
