Krafton Posts Record Q1 2026 Revenue, Driven by PUBG Franchise Growth
- Sagar Mankar
- May 3
- 2 min read
Krafton has reported its strongest quarterly performance ever, with Q1 2026 revenue reaching KRW 1.3714 trillion and operating profit hitting KRW 561.6 billion.
The South Korean gaming giant saw revenue climb 56.9% year-over-year, while operating profit rose 22.8% compared to the same period last year.
To put that into perspective, the Q1 operating profit alone accounts for 53% of Krafton's total operating profit for the entire year of 2025. That is a pretty remarkable start to the year.
Here is a breakdown of revenue by business segment for Q1 2026:
Mobile: KRW 702.7 billion ($477 million)
PC: KRW 363.9 billion ($247.1 million)
Console: KRW 13.8 billion ($9.3 million)
Other: KRW 291.0 billion ($197.6 million)
PUBG Franchise Crosses KRW 1 Trillion in a Single Quarter
The PUBG IP franchise was the clear engine behind this record performance. According to Krafton's Q1 earnings report, franchise revenue grew 24% year-over-year and crossed the KRW 1 trillion ($679 million) mark in a single quarter for the first time.
On PC, Krafton leaned into its live-service model and content partnerships. The PUBG: Battlegrounds 9th Anniversary event featured an Aston Martin vehicle collaboration, which became the first vehicle resale event on PC. Interestingly, it generated significantly more revenue than when the same collaboration originally launched in 2023, showing that legacy content can still pull strong numbers when executed well.
Mobile told a similar story. A collaboration with German hypercar brand Apollo Automobil drove spending among high-value users. BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI) also had a strong quarter, with server upgrades and a broader content lineup pushing paying users up 17% year-over-year. The BGIS 2026 tournament recorded its highest-ever viewership, cementing BGMI's status as India's top competitive mobile title.
Looking ahead, Krafton plans to keep expanding the PUBG ecosystem. The new game mode Xeno Point launched in April and brought in fresh user traffic by offering gameplay beyond the classic battle royale format. A PAYDAY-based mode is also scheduled for May, with further modes and UGC expansions to follow.
inZOI, Subnautica 2, and the AI Push
Beyond PUBG, Krafton has been building out its broader game portfolio. inZOI, the life simulation game that launched in Early Access in March 2025, is being scaled up with a focus on giving it a long product life cycle. Krafton plans to port it to console, introduce multiplayer features, and launch an AI script modding tool to make content creation more accessible for players.
Subnautica 2 is also gearing up for its Early Access launch in May, with a co-op mode set to be a highlight for both new and returning fans of the franchise.
On the AI front, Krafton is doubling down on what it calls its "AI for Game" initiative, which focuses on "delivering differentiated gameplay experiences using AI." Krafton announced back in October that it would "prioritise AI as a central and primary means of problem-solving." That strategy is now taking shape in a concrete way. The company unveiled four Raon multimodal AI models in April, each set to be fine-tuned for individual game titles.
Krafton is also planning to roll out PUBG Ally, a Co-Playable Character (CPC) powered by AI, as a beta service within PUBG: Battlegrounds Arcade later this year.
