'Battleground' Overseas Victory... Krafton Approaches 1 Trillion Won Operating Profit

Game Battlegrounds (PUBG)
[Photo by Krafton]

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Krafton's Battlegrounds (PUBG) has shown high interest not only in major overseas consumer countries such as India and China but also in various other countries. Due to the popularity of Battlegrounds, there are projections that Krafton's operating profit could reach 1 trillion KRW.

According to Google Trends on the 14th, the country with the highest search frequency for the keyword 'PUBG' over the past 90 days was Turkmenistan. This was followed by Bhutan, Myanmar, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. This indicator is indexed based on the number of searches, with countries having the highest search volume receiving higher indices and rankings assigned according to relative proportions.

Interest in 'PUBG' was observed across most continents including Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, South America, and Oceania. The total number of countries was counted at 93. In Asia, most countries showed interest, including India where Battlegrounds is highly popular. In Europe, interest was noted in multiple regions including Georgia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. In the Americas, countries such as the United States, Canada, and Mexico recorded steady popularity. In South America, interest was seen in Peru, Brazil, and Argentina, while in Africa, countries such as Ethiopia, Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa showed popularity for Battlegrounds.

Battlegrounds supports Krafton's performance based on its success in overseas markets. According to a report by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the PC/online version of Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Mobile ranked first among domestic games preferred by overseas users. The PC/online version ranked first in China, India, Canada, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia. The mobile version showed the highest ranking in all countries except Taiwan among a total of 18 countries. Particularly notable is the performance in the Indian market, where 'Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI)' continues to break records for highest revenue and user numbers. The number of countries where Battlegrounds Mobile ranked first surged from 3 in 2022 to 17 last year. Reflecting this, Krafton's sales last year increased by 3.1% year-on-year to 1.9106 trillion KRW, and operating profit rose by 2.2% to 768 billion KRW. The sales figure is the highest ever recorded.

Domestic securities firms have raised their target stock prices one after another as Krafton achieved record-high performance thanks to the success of the Battlegrounds intellectual property (IP). They also expect synergy with five new titles scheduled for release this year: Dark and Darker Mobile, Deancom Mobile, Enjoy, Black Budget, and Subnautica 2. Daishin Securities raised Krafton's target price from 230,000 KRW to 290,000 KRW, NH Investment & Securities from 250,000 KRW to 275,000 KRW. Yuanta Securities upgraded its investment opinion from neutral to buy and raised the target price from 170,000 KRW to 270,000 KRW.

Hyundai Motor Securities researcher Kim Hyun-yong explained, "At this point, it has been proven that annual sales of 2 trillion KRW and operating profit of 800 billion KRW are possible solely through the organic growth of the Battlegrounds IP. Assuming a smooth launch of major new titles, reaching an annual operating profit of 1 trillion KRW is not far off." He added, "Reflecting the upgraded Battlegrounds IP power in the performance, the target price is adjusted upward by 7% to 290,000 KRW from the previous level."

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