PUBG: Battlegrounds boasts 80,000 more daily players since going free-to-play
Mobile version New State has also seen a boost in "total play time and play frequency".
PUBG: Battlegrounds has clocked up 80,000 new players daily since going free-to-play earlier this year.
Confirming the new figures in its latest financial report, developer/publisher Krafton confirmed that net profit for the company was up 37 per cent when compared with the same quarter last year, even though both operating profit and revenue were down by 6.9 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively.
94 per cent of the battle royale's revenue is generated outside of South Korea, where the game is made.
"PUBG: Battleground, which is available on PC and consoles, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary," the company explains. "The game, which transitioned to a free-to-play business model in January 2022, has seen a steady inflow of more than 80,000 new users per day. Accordingly, average revenue per user (ARPU) across all platforms increased more than 20 per cent [quarter on quarter]. International markets (outside South Korea) drove 94 per cent of the game’s revenue during Q2 2022."
The company also revealed that "to ensure a fairer playing field for all, the game has also adopted stricter anti-cheat programs", whilst PUBG's mobile edition - called New State Mobile - "has continued to evolve, refocusing the way it upkeeps live service and expanding its IP collaboration efforts".
Whilst specific figures were not given, Krafton further reports that New State's total play time and play frequency also increased in Q2 2022.
PUBG developer Krafton recently announced that it's making a new game based upon the Korean fantasy book, The Bird That Drinks Tears.
Krafton says it is an "ambitious project" that "aims to bring the original fantasy universe of The Bird That Drinks Tears to life through its unique and refreshing fantasy races, beautiful, haunting landscapes, and gripping, immersive, and poignant stories".
"The Bird That Drinks Tears is a novel series that was created and written by Yeong-do Lee, who is widely acknowledged as the pioneer of the Korean fantasy genre," Krafton says. "As one of the best-selling fantasy authors in Korea with millions of copies sold, Mr. Lee is an exceptionally imaginative writer who builds elaborate worlds and fills them with complex characters."