Indian Mobile Gamers Carry Krafton to Record-Breaking 2024 Earnings
|
|
- Krafton reported record earnings in 2024, with a 41.8% increase in sales and a 54.0% rise in operating profit.
- PUBG’s transition to free-to-play and its success in India helped fuel growth, with mobile sales up 35.7%.
- The company’s 2025 strategy includes securing a new “Big Franchise IP,” pushing AI innovation.
PUBG creator Krafton has officially announced its most successful year in company history, both in sales and profit, correspondingly $1.86 billion and $814 million.
In 2024, a South Korean video game publisher marked a 41.8% year-over-year increase in sales, along with an operating profit up 54.0% from the previous year. The company’s success was driven by the continuing growth of its flagship PUBG franchise, which saw substantial boosts from its free-to-play transition in 2022 and a peak concurrent user count of 890,000 players in 2024.
The PUBG franchise remains Krafton’s primary growth point with a strong year across platforms. The game’s shift to free-to-play has paid off contributing to nearly $688 million in combined sales across PC and console. On mobile, PUBG: Battlegrounds Mobile India saw a 35.7% year-over-year increase in revenue.
Krafton’s fourth-quarter results also exceeded expectations, with sales reaching $425 million and operating profits climbing 31.1% to $148.3 million.
Looking forward to 2025, Krafton plans to continue its expansion, with a focus on securing a new “Big Franchise IP” to complement the growing PUBG universe.
The company has ambitious goals, including a target of $4.82 billion in revenue within five years, which would double its corporate value. To achieve this, Krafton will focus on scaling up its creative strategies, diversifying content and services, and continuing its push for new PUBG-related game releases.
The company is also looking forward to AI innovation. Krafton has already formed strategic partnerships with Nvidia and OpenAI to enhance gameplay with next-gen technologies, including the Co-Playable Character (CPC) system.
Krafton is also set to release a Sims-like life simulation game inZOI on the 28th of March, and then later DARK AND DARKER MOBILE, Subnautica 2 and Dinkum Together.
The company’s focus on India as a strategic market will continue, with plans to push large-scale content updates and deepen engagement in the region through localized publishing efforts.
