Sales Surge at Krafton, Anticipation for 'Elion' in the Second Half

Battleground Mobile Leads to Consecutive Record Highs in the OTC Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Krafton is continuously hitting record highs in the over-the-counter stock market, driven by the success of 'Battlegrounds Mobile.' In the second half of the year, additional revenue growth is expected as Krafton plans to release the PC MMORPG 'Elion,' developed by the company.

According to the gaming industry on the 5th, Krafton's over-the-counter stock reached a record high with a bid price of 1,187,500 KRW. Compared to the early this year when Krafton's OTC stock was around 400,000 KRW, it has nearly tripled in just half a year. With the stock price increase, Krafton's market capitalization has reached 9.5983 trillion KRW, approaching the 10 trillion KRW mark.

Launched in May 2018, Battlegrounds Mobile is a representative game in the battle royale genre, where multiple players compete simultaneously until one winner remains. Although it has been two years since its release, its popularity remains steady both domestically and internationally. It ranks 5th in mobile game revenue in the United States (iOS basis) and also holds the 5th position in daily active users (DAU) for Android-based mobile games in Korea. Thanks to the strong performance of Battlegrounds Mobile, Krafton posted record-breaking results in the first quarter of this year, with sales increasing 98% year-over-year to 508.1 billion KRW and operating profit rising 255% to 352.4 billion KRW.

Krafton aims for further performance growth in the second half by launching Elion. Kakao Games is the publisher for Elion and plans to release it domestically within the second half of the year. Elion is the first large-scale PC MMORPG to be released in two years since Smilegate's 'Lost Ark' launched in November 2018, generating interest even before its release. Krafton and Kakao Games are focusing on final development stages, including optimization and service environment setup, to prepare for Elion's launch in the second half of the year.