South Korean publisher and developer Krafton has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. The company reported record high revenue and operating profits, setting records for the first half of the year.
In Q2 2024, Krafton reported earnings equal to roughly $532 million, bringing its H1 performance to $1.04 billion. Compared to the same periods the prior year, Krafton’s revenue grew 83% from Q2 2023 and 48% from H1 2023. Together, Q1 and Q2 2024 set record high sales for two consecutive quarters.
In H1 2024, both PC and Mobile saw major gains compared to the previous year. Compared to H1 2023, PC revenue is up 47% while mobile revenue grew 52%. However, console revenue fell 23% during the same period.
Today, about two-thirds of Krafton’s revenue comes from its mobile products while PC and Console account for about a third combined. Since 2020, PC and Console doubled its share of Krafton’s revenue — growing from 17% in H1 2020 to 33% in H1 2024.
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Similarly to its revenue, Krafton set a new record high for operating profits for the first half of 2024. In this period, the company earned about $485 million in operating profits — up 55% from H1 2023. In fact, 2024’s its operating profits in the first half of 2023 has already reached 84% of 2023’s total annual operating profit.
According to Krafton, this record setting growth is due to sustained growth of its PUBG franchise. The battle royale title’s active users and paying users grew in H1 2024 on both PC and mobile. On PC, Monthly active users grew 40% while paying users grew 130% in H1 2024 compared to H1 2023. Meanwhile, PUBG Mobile’s daily active users were up 30% and paying users were up 40% in the same period.
Krafton’s growth strategy
With these funds, Krafton has invested into new games and new studios for second party publishing. In-house, Krafton is gearing up for two major releases in 2024: extraction RPG Dark and Darker Mobile and life simulator Inzoi.
Externally, Krafton has acquired or invested in 27 studios since 2022 with 11 of these happening in 2024 so far. Most recently, Krafton acquired the development team behind Tango Gameworks — best known for their 2023 hit Hi-Fi Rush.
Krafton is also challenging the status quo of layoffs by expanding its headcount. The company has 3,409 employees — up roughly 10% from the start of 2024.
Going forward, Krafton’s sustainable growth strategy includes further investment in the PUBG IP and continuing to secure new IPs through strategic acquisitions. The company revealed plans to create new games in various genres featuring the PUBG IP that synergize with its core product. Part of this strategy includes investment in fandom expression like esports and localized content.
Additionally, Krafton highlights its use of AI to drive gameplay innovations. In the second half of 2024, the company will fully launch two new titles — Magical Mic Duel and Uncover the Smoking Gun — that use AI for emergent gameplay.
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