Gaming

Krafton Posts Record Profits as PUBG Franchise Surges 25% in Revenue Growth

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Key takeaways

PUBG franchise revenue grew 25% in the first half of 2026, with all three platforms — PC, PUBG Mobile, and Battlegrounds Mobile India — contributing to the increase.
Krafton set a new Q2 operating profit record of 410.9 billion KRW (~£213m), a 67% year-on-year rise, with PC revenue surging 155.1%.
Future growth plans include expanded UGC tools under the World of Wonder banner, featuring globally recognized IPs like Naruto and Spider-Man alongside a new in-game creator currency.

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds may have faded from the cultural spotlight it once dominated, but Krafton's financials tell a story of sustained and growing success. The South Korean developer-publisher revealed in its Q2 2026 earnings report that the PUBG intellectual property collectively generated 25% more revenue in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year. That kind of steady growth, without the constant buzz of a newly launched title, speaks volumes about the franchise's deep-rooted player base and Krafton's ability to keep it engaged.

The PUBG brand is broader than many casual observers might realize. It encompasses PUBG: Battlegrounds on PC, the massively popular PUBG Mobile, and Battlegrounds Mobile India — a regionally tailored version that has found an enormous audience on the subcontinent. All three platforms reported growth during the period, and Krafton credited a combination of new gameplay modes and high-profile collaboration events as the primary drivers behind the uptick.

On the PC side, the newly introduced co-op PvE mode Xeno Point gave longtime players a fresh reason to log back in, while a crossover event with the Payday franchise offered something different from the usual battle royale formula. Krafton confirmed that more collaborations and mode expansions are already in the pipeline for the second half of 2026, suggesting the momentum is far from over.

Mobile growth was partially fueled by the game's expanding user-generated content ecosystem, branded under the World of Wonder banner. Similar in concept to Roblox's or Fortnite's creative platforms, World of Wonder allows players to build and share custom experiences. Krafton announced plans to upgrade its creation tools and integrate globally recognized IPs such as Naruto and Spider-Man into the UGC space, alongside a new in-game currency designed to reward active creators.

Beyond PUBG itself, Krafton's broader financial performance was exceptional. The company posted a record operating profit of 410.9 billion KRW — roughly £213 million — during Q2 2026, representing a staggering 67% year-on-year increase. PC revenue surged 155.1% year-on-year, while console growth reached 143.3%. Mobile growth, by comparison, was relatively modest at 5.5%. Krafton also flagged strong early access performance from Subnautica 2, which it now intends to develop into a full franchise IP.

The bigger picture

What Krafton is pulling off with PUBG deserves more credit than the industry tends to give it. In a market that obsesses over the next big launch and quickly forgets what came before, maintaining a top-five position on Steam for years while simultaneously growing revenue is genuinely rare. Most live-service games face a brutal plateau followed by slow decline — PUBG appears to have found a formula that keeps defying that trajectory through diversification rather than desperation.

The bifurcation in growth between PC and mobile is worth watching closely. PC revenue jumping 155% year-on-year is an extraordinary number, suggesting that Krafton's investment in new modes like Xeno Point is resonating with a core audience that was perhaps being underfed in previous years. Meanwhile, mobile's modest 5.5% growth signals that the hyper-competitive mobile market — increasingly crowded with battle royale alternatives — may be harder to move meaningfully without the kind of UGC and IP expansion Krafton is now betting on. The Naruto and Spider-Man integrations are smart moves: recognizable franchises bring in lapsed players and attract new demographics simultaneously.

The record operating profit and the Subnautica 2 franchise declaration together paint a picture of a publisher that is quietly building significant institutional confidence. Investors and industry watchers should pay attention to how Krafton deploys those profits — whether into aggressive new IP development, further live-service investment in PUBG, or acquisitions. A company posting 67% profit growth year-on-year has options, and the decisions Krafton makes in the next twelve months will likely define what kind of publisher it wants to be in the long run.

LagPing's take

We wanted to cover this story because it is a genuine reminder that not every important development in gaming comes with a marketing blitz or a viral moment. PUBG's quiet resurgence is exactly the kind of story that gets overlooked in favor of louder headlines, but the numbers behind it are too significant to ignore. At LagPing, we think it matters when a franchise that many people wrote off continues to thrive on its own terms — it challenges assumptions about the lifecycle of live-service games and what player loyalty actually looks like in practice. There is also something broader here worth discussing: the platformization of PUBG through World of Wonder echoes trends we are seeing across the industry, from Fortnite to Roblox, and Krafton's UGC ambitions deserve scrutiny as that space becomes increasingly competitive. We will be keeping a close eye on how those creator tools develop and whether the Naruto and Spider-Man integrations move the needle the way Krafton is hoping.

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