KRAFTON's quarterly revenue thus reached a record high, increasing 17.8% from the previous quarter and 13.5% above the results of the same quarter last year. Here are more details on Q1 2022 results:

Summary of Q1 2022

• Revenue: $405.7 million ( 17.8% QoQ and 13.5% YoY)
• Operating profit: $241.9 million. U.S. dollars ( 628% QoQ and 37% YoY)
• Net income: $190.2 million

The quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year increase in operating income was due to lower operating costs (e.g. e.g., marketing costs) and the absence of one-time stock compensation costs in 2021.

Factors that contributed to quarterly growth

In the first quarter of 2022, PUBG IP saw balanced growth across all platforms. With a large number of old users returning to the game following the conversion of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS to free-to-play (F2P) in January 2022, average monthly active users (MAU) nearly tripled compared to Q4 2021, and the number of paying users more than doubled, contributing significantly to the increased quarterly revenue. As a result, PC sales of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS reached $82.3 million, up 61% year-over-year. Console sales of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS increased 124% quarter-over-quarter and 274% year-over-year.

PUBG: MOBILE reported revenue of $307.1 million in Q1 2022, up 30% quarter-over-quarter and 5% year-over-year. These increases were driven by a number of in-game IP collaborations and robust live service systems.

International markets (outside of South Korea) contributed 95% of KRAFTON's Q1 2022 revenue. The company has contributed to the development of the local gaming industry in India by strategically investing in the country's IT and media ecosystem. Accordingly, BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA has seen an upward trend in market share and revenue.

New games and expanded business focus in 2022

KRAFTON will release new titles such as "Project M" and "The Callisto Protocol" later this year. Unknown Worlds, the creators of the Subnautica series that KRAFTON acquired in 2021, is developing a new game codenamed "Project M" that is scheduled for Early Access later this year. "Project M" is a unique turn-based strategy game set in a sci-fi world. The Callisto Protocol, a survival horror game developed by Striking Distance Studios, is also scheduled to launch in 2022. In addition, internal project incubation teams have developed Deep Learning-based games and conducted public testing on Steam.

The company continues to work on strengthening its Web 3.0 business and forming a joint venture with NAVER Z. A team of members dedicated to NFT research and experienced in game research and development has developed a sandbox editing tool that can be used to develop games and implement the Metaverse. The team plans to conduct an alpha test in the first quarter of 2023. As such, KRAFTON plans to undertake widespread efforts to build the Create to Earn (C2E) ecosystem.