Game 'Daejangju' Solidifies Its Position, Krafton Steps Up

Rising Trend Since Mid-Month... Returns to 500,000 Won Range
Former Leader NC Faces Consecutive Declines
Expectations for Improved Performance Rise with Battleground New Release Success Anticipated

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Krafton has been regaining momentum since mid-month, solidifying its position as the 'leading game stock.' Expectations have risen as the upcoming new release has attracted over 40 million pre-registrations, signaling anticipated success.

As of 11:11 AM on the 27th, Krafton's stock price rose 1.42% from the previous trading day to 500,000 KRW. After hitting an all-time high closing price of 509,000 KRW earlier this month, it dropped to 447,000 KRW on the 10th but has recently climbed about 12% again. This contrasts with the KOSPI, which fell 0.03% during the same period.

Institutional investors have steadily increased their purchases. Since the beginning of this month until the day before, institutions have net bought Krafton shares worth 449.6 billion KRW, ranking first in total institutional net purchases. This is more than double the second place, Hyundai Heavy Industries, which net bought 175.3 billion KRW. Market capitalization has also surpassed 24 trillion KRW, placing Krafton 14th overall and first among game stocks. This contrasts with NCSoft, the previous leading game stock, which has recently struggled and dropped to 31st in market cap rankings.

The expectation of improved earnings from the new release appears to be driving investor sentiment. The pre-registrations for the sequel to the flagship title Battlegrounds, "Battlegrounds New State," exceeded 40 million as of the 16th. Notably, the pre-registration launch on Apple iOS from the 19th of last month and in India from the 1st of this month proved effective. Considering that 28 million pre-registrations were made from February 25 to March 18, 12 million pre-registrations were added in just the past month.

"Battlegrounds New State" includes more monetization features compared to its predecessor, and if it secures a sufficient user base, its revenue scale is expected to grow significantly compared to the previous title. Ho-yoon Jung, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, explained, "Currently, Battlegrounds Mobile is serviced by Tencent in most countries except Korea, Japan, and India, so profits must be shared. However, the new title 'Battlegrounds New State' is directly serviced by Krafton," adding, "Therefore, the more successful the new release is, the more Krafton can retain all profits after deducting app market fees and marketing costs."