PUBG has best quarter since 2019 — is it making a comeback?

PUBG has had the most financially successful year since 2019, according to a developer Krafton. The company announced 433.8 billion KRW (or $320.4 million USD) in revenue in Q3 2022, a staggering amount of money reflecting a 2% increase in revenue and 17% increase in profits quarter-over-quarter.

As for why this has happened, it’s stated in the official press release featuring this info that the increased sales of PUBG in Q3 2022 thanks to the consistent inflow of new players since going free-to-play. An especially eye-catching figure comes from PC sales, which increased by 48% from last quarter.

Consoles saw similar growth too, with quarterly sales increasing by 22% from last quarter, and over double the number of sales from last year. What drove new players to pick up the game aside from the transition to free-to-play? The game has seen several major updates over the past few months, including a new map and numerous collaborations with other brands. While PUBG has remained a powerhouse in Eastern markets, these recent changes appear to have brought in an increased number of players from Western regions.

Upon seeing the overall announcement of increased profits, you, like me, may have assumed much of the growth came from PUBG mobile. While the platform did make ground, with $208.6 million USD worth of sales (which is wild), that’s down 26% year-over-year since 2021. Much of that success Krafton claims comes from crossovers, such as international soccer players and supercare brands.

As for the future, Krafton still has The Callisto Protocol coming out later this year. As one of the last massive releases coming in 2022, it’s not hard to assume that it has high hopes for the project. In addition, Krafton also announced it has bought Neon Giant, developers of The Ascent, alongside news that Neon Giant has an open world FPS in the works.

There’s also the project based on The Bird That Drinks Tears that is still a ways out. All of future projects combined, paired with the growing presence that PUBG has over the battle royale genre, it’s safe to say Krafton is carving a space for itself that’s due to grow larger and larger. That is, if PUBG can maintain its position as a heavy hitter in 2022 and those upcoming games make a big enough splash.

What do you think of all this? Have you jumped into PUBG recently? Let us know below!