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Krafton, the company that publishes PUBG: Battlegrounds and PUBG Mobile, closed 2025 with the largest revenue in its history. Its results, released on Monday, February 9, put consolidated revenue for the year at KRW 3.3266 trillion, up 22.8% on 2024. The Esports Advocate, which reported the figures the same day, converted the total to about US$2.28 billion.
Profit moved the other way. Operating profit fell to KRW 1.0544 trillion and net profit dropped more sharply, while the fourth quarter carried a large one-time cost. Alongside the results, Krafton committed at least KRW 1 trillion to its shareholders over the next three years, through cash dividends and buybacks of its own shares that will then be cancelled. PUBG remains the core of the business, and the company says it expects the franchise to keep growing in 2026.
Krafton 2025 results, February 9, 2026, and The Esports Advocate the same day. Consolidated figures under Korean accounting standards.
The largest revenue in its history
The rise is large in absolute terms. Krafton's revenue grew by KRW 616.8 billion in a year, which puts 2024 at about KRW 2.7098 trillion. The figures are prepared under K-IFRS, the version of international accounting standards used in South Korea, and they are consolidated, meaning they include the companies Krafton controls as well as the parent itself.
Operating profit, what remains of revenue once the costs of running the business are paid, came to KRW 1.0544 trillion. The table in the company's release gives about KRW 1.1825 trillion for 2024, so the year ended KRW 128.1 billion lower, a fall of 10.8%. The Esports Advocate, which rounds the fall to 11%, links it to increased investment tied to the evolution of the PUBG platform and to the expansion of its developers.
Related readNinjas in Pyjamas owner NIP Group regains its Nasdaq complianceNet profit, the bottom line after financial items and tax, fell further. The Esports Advocate puts it at KRW 733.7 billion for the year, down 43.7%. Krafton's own results release gives revenue and operating profit, not net profit.
The result is a company that sold more than ever while keeping less of each won. Operating profit equaled about 31.7% of revenue in 2025, against about 43.6% in 2024, using the release's own amounts.
Where the revenue came from
Krafton splits its revenue by platform. Mobile is the largest part, PC the second, and console a small line, beside a fourth line the company calls others.
Krafton 2025 results, February 9, 2026. The four lines add up to KRW 3,326.6 billion.
Mobile brought in about 52.3% of the total, PC about 35.6%, others about 10.8% and console about 1.3%, computed from the published amounts. The company does not break the lines down game by game.
On PC, the company says PUBG: Battlegrounds had its highest annual revenue ever, up 16%. It credits major collaborations with global artists and luxury brands, among them a tie-in with Porsche in November that it calls the strongest supercar collaboration in the game's history, and more varied game modes. On mobile, PUBG Mobile grew through new themed modes, updates to its user-generated content, in which players build their own maps and modes, and cross-platform collaborations with the PC and console versions; its paying users rose 5% over the year. Paying users of Battlegrounds Mobile India, or BGMI, the version of the game Krafton runs for India, rose 27%.
The others line rose 963%. Krafton explains the jump by the consolidation of ADK Group and Neptune, companies whose results it now includes in its own.
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A heavy last quarter
The fourth quarter was the strongest of the year for sales. Revenue reached KRW 919.7 billion, up 48.9% on the same quarter of 2024, which The Esports Advocate puts down to strong performance on PC, console and mobile. On PC alone, Krafton reports KRW 287.4 billion for the quarter, up roughly 24%. The three months brought about 27.6% of the year's total revenue, and the quarter's PC sales were about 24.3% of the PC line for the full year, computed from the published amounts.
Operating profit for the quarter was only KRW 2.4 billion. The release attributes this to a one-time expense of KRW 81.6 billion for a joint labor welfare fund over four years, tied to the company's move to a new headquarters in Seongsu, a district of Seoul. The Esports Advocate adds that the quarter ended with a modest net loss, as operating expenses peaked.
At least KRW 1 trillion for shareholders
The second part of the announcement concerns what Krafton gives back to the people who own its shares. Its shareholder return policy covers the three financial years from 2026 to 2028 and totals at least KRW 1 trillion, about US$686 million at The Esports Advocate's conversion.
It has two parts. About KRW 300 billion goes to cash dividends, paid annually. At least KRW 700 billion goes to share buybacks, in which the company purchases its own shares on the market. The first buyback, of KRW 200 billion, begins on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. A year-end dividend is planned, subject to approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting. A dividend is a share of the company's profit paid out in cash to its owners; the annual general meeting is the yearly meeting at which shareholders vote on it and on the accounts.
Related readOverActive Media's second-quarter revenue falls 40% to C$5.0 millionCancelled shares raise each remaining share's slice
Krafton says every share it buys back under the plan will be cancelled rather than kept. Fewer shares then remain in issue, so each one left stands for a larger part of the company.
The Esports Advocate converted all amounts at a mid-market rate of 1 US dollar to KRW 1,457.6557, taken at 18:47 UTC on February 9, 2026: about US$206 million for the dividends, at least US$480 million for the buybacks and about US$137 million for the first purchase.
What it means for PUBG esports
The results release does not mention esports, and the competitive circuits are not a separate line in the accounts. Their prize money is set out elsewhere. On the same day, February 9, Krafton published its 2026 roadmap for PUBG esports, which gives the money and the calendar of the coming season in US dollars.
The PUBG Global Series, known as PGS, is the international series of the PC game. In 2026 it runs as four circuits of three linked events each, twelve in all, with 24 teams per event: twelve Global Partner Teams chosen by the publisher for the whole year, and twelve teams from regional competitions. The roadmap sets the prize money at US$2,000,000 across the twelve events, US$100,000 for each of the first two series of a circuit and US$300,000 for its final.
Partner teams receive US$1,000,000 of support a year in total, which the roadmap presents as a way to help teams that commit to the full season run with more stability. New regional cups carry prize pools of about US$130,000 in total.
| Competition | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| PUBG Global Series | Four circuits | Twelve events of 24 teams, US$2,000,000 in all |
| Regional Series | April and September | Regional events that feed the world championship |
| PUBG Nations Cup | June | National teams |
| Esports World Cup | July | Multi-game event with a PUBG tournament |
| PUBG Global Championship | December | 32 teams, 16 in the Grand Final |
Krafton, 2026 PUBG Esports roadmap, February 9, 2026.
The world championship takes the eight best teams of the PGS points table and 24 teams from the Regional Series, allocated by region.
A season earlier, the PUBG Global Championship 2025 was played in Bangkok from November 28 to December 14, 2025, Krafton announced in September 2025. Its format brought 33 teams together: 32 in a group stage of two groups and a Last Stage at CentralWorld PULSE Bangkok, and a regional wildcard that joined the Grand Finals at Siam Paragon Bangkok. Its prize pool was US$1,500,000, with crowdfunding added on top. The Grand Finals held 16 teams: ten straight from the groups, five from the Last Stage and the wildcard.
What comes next
Krafton expects PUBG to keep growing at a double-digit rate in 2026. Part of that plan is what it calls PUBG 2.0, a gameplay platform that moves the game to the Unreal Engine 5 game engine, with more modes and updates to user-generated content. The company also names projects in development, among them Black Budget, PUBG: BLINDSPOT and Valor.
Beyond PUBG, the release lists 15 new first-party projects, games developed within the group, and titles preparing for launch, including Subnautica 2, Palworld Mobile, Dinkum Together and NO LAW. The company describes its strategy as a mix of acquisitions large and small, strategic equity investments, second-party publishing, meaning games made by outside studios that Krafton releases, and work on artificial intelligence under two headings it calls AI for Games and Game for AI.
On the shareholder side, the KRW 200 billion buyback starts on February 10, and the year-end dividend goes to the annual general meeting for approval. On the esports side, the roadmap puts the first international events of the PGS season ahead, with the Regional Series in April, the PUBG Nations Cup in June and the Esports World Cup in July, before the PUBG Global Championship in December.
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