SEOUL, April 29 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- Krafton Inc, a South Korean game publisher known for its smash-hit title PUBG: Battlegrounds, said on Tuesday its first-quarter net profit rose 6.6 per cent on-year driven by the success of the shooter title and its new life simulation game inZOI, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Krafton's net profit for the January-March period totalled 371.5 billion won (US$258.4 million) on a consolidated basis, up from 348.6 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit climbed 47.3 per cent to 457.3 billion won, and sales jumped 31.3 per cent to 874.2 billion won.
The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 329.1 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency.
By platform, sales from PC games reached 323.5 billion won while those of mobile games amounted to 532.4 billion won.
On the PC platform, PUBG continued to generate strong live-service micro transaction sales, while inZOI, launched last month in early access form, contributed to the robust quarterly performance.
In the mobile segment, premium item sales and collaborations helped drive growth, with Battlegrounds Mobile India in particular showing strong results.
The company said it is preparing to launch new games based on the PUBG universe, including the extraction shooter Project Black Budget and tactical shooter PUBG: Blindspot.
-- BERNAMA-YONHAP
