Krafton plans to release multiple new titles next year and, marking the 10th anniversary of "PUBG: Battlegrounds," push ahead with its largest-ever content update. It plans to expand growth engines by sustaining momentum in its existing intellectual property while pursuing new businesses using its in-house AI model.

Krafton on Monday set out key management directions on a third-quarter earnings conference call, including expanding the PUBG franchise, launching new titles, its AI business and its shareholder return policy.

On a consolidated basis, third-quarter revenue rose 11.6 percent from a year earlier to 971.4 billion won, but operating profit fell 35.5 percent to 225.0 billion won. Falling PC revenue and rising marketing costs, among other factors, affected results. It also posted a net loss of 68.4 billion won due to losses related to foreign currencies.

Revenue for the first nine months totalled 3.63 trillion won, while operating profit reached 1.20 trillion won, up 50.9 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively. It achieved its highest-ever cumulative results for the first three quarters.

PUBG 10th anniversary to bring large update; push to launch more than five new titles next year

Krafton is preparing its largest-ever content update to mark the 10th anniversary of PUBG’s launch next year. In March, it will roll out 10th anniversary content and plans to continue large collaborations and seasonal events throughout the year.

Bae Dong-geun (배동근), Krafton’s chief financial officer, said 2027 will mark PUBG’s 10th anniversary and the company is preparing its largest-ever content. He added it is planning large-scale content in March to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the launch.

PUBG is seeking to evolve into a platform for enjoying a wide range of content by expanding user-generated content and collaborations with external IP. In the fourth quarter, it will collaborate with Bentley and IVE, among others, and is also preparing low-capacity mobile games aimed at emerging markets, "PUBG Mobile Flash" and "BGMI Air."

Bae expected annual revenue for the PUBG franchise this year to grow at a double-digit rate. Third-quarter PC revenue fell due to a decline in paid content and the fading of an initial sales boost from "Subnautica 2," but it aims to sustain growth through new content and next year’s 10th anniversary update.

It is also expanding new title launches. Krafton CEO Chang-han Kim (김창한) said the company is preparing five titles showcased at Gamescom for release next year, and plans next year launches including the official release of "InZOI" and its PlayStation version, and "Palworld Mobile."

Kim said it is repeating pre-release testing and gameplay improvements, so the precise release schedule for individual games may change.

"Subnautica 2" has surpassed cumulative sales of 5 million units, and recorded a 91 percent positive rating on Steam and 4,450,000 remaining wishlist entries. It will raise completeness with an end-year Early Access 2.0 update and prepare for a full release. A new title based on the PUBG IP, "PUBG: DED.NET," is also reflecting user feedback and aiming for a 2027 launch.

Development of in-house AI model 'Raon'; seeking early monetisation of new businesses

Krafton last month unveiled its self-developed large language model, "Raon-1 mini Preview," and is pushing ahead with developing specialised models to apply to games and external industries.

Kim said the company decided from this year to expand into AI business areas beyond games, and as part of that began building models directly. He said it is developing a model with strengths in Korean and optimising inference costs to create a model competitive in terms of speed and cost.

Krafton plans to develop an official version of the small model, a larger-scale "Raon-1" and a voice model capable of two-way real-time conversation. It aims to advance game AI such as "PUBG Ally" and expand its business areas into industry-specific specialised models.

On the timing of recouping AI investment, Kim said some businesses are invested in with a long horizon, but it is considering businesses that can generate tangible revenue quickly, even if small. A detailed strategy for the AI business will be announced separately later.

ADK ad business sluggish; shareholder returns expanded to 917.2 billion won

Krafton also explained the sluggish advertising business at Japan-based advertising and content company ADK.

Bae said ADK’s animation business is delivering better-than-expected performance, but its advertising business is weaker than initially planned. He said Japan’s traditional advertising market is shrinking and building a cooperation system after the acquisition is taking longer than expected, and an improvement plan will be detailed in early next year.

It is also expanding shareholder returns. Krafton decided at a board meeting on Nov. 3 to additionally buy back 300.0 billion won worth of treasury shares and cancel all of them.

Through the third quarter, it bought back about 400.0 billion won worth of treasury shares and paid a capital reduction dividend of 99.6 billion won. Including newly acquired shares and existing holdings, it cancelled a total of 517.6 billion won worth of treasury shares, equivalent to 4.4 percent of total shares outstanding.

Including a fourth-quarter additional buyback and cancellation plan, total shareholder returns for this year will reach 917.2 billion won, the largest annual amount since it began shareholder returns in 2023.

Bae said it decided on additional shareholder returns based on its view that the current share price does not sufficiently reflect corporate value.

He said the previously presented 700.0 billion won treasury share amount is not a buyback ceiling but a minimum amount. He added the company will flexibly decide on additional buybacks and cancellations by comprehensively considering market conditions, share price levels and strategic priorities.