Korean game developer Krafton on Wednesday reported record revenue and operating profit for the first half of this year, supported by continued momentum in its hit PUBG franchise and the early success of Subnautica 2, an underwater survival adventure.

According to Krafton’s preliminary earnings, the company posted 2.66 trillion won ($1.84 billion) in sales and 972.5 billion won in operating profit for the first six months of 2026, up 73.3 percent and 38.3 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. The first-half operating profit was equal to about 92 percent of Krafton’s full-year operating profit last year, highlighting how much of the company’s annual earnings base has already been generated before the second half.

For the second quarter alone, the South Korean game company recorded revenue of 1.29 trillion won and operating profit of 410.9 billion won, up 94.9 percent and 67 percent, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. Both figures were the highest quarterly second-quarter results in the company’s history.

Krafton said its flagship PUBG intellectual property franchise generated 25 percent more revenue in the first half than a year earlier, driven by strong user engagement and growth in paying users across PC and mobile platforms. That makes the franchise especially important to Krafton’s broader business mix, since it remains the company’s main source of scale while new titles are still being built out.

The company said it intends to expand PUBG into a broader content platform by increasing user-generated content, or UGC, and pursuing global intellectual property collaborations beyond automotive brands and K-pop celebrities. Krafton said UGC has gained steady popularity since 2023, with more players engaging with content created by other players and creating additional monetization opportunities.

Subnautica 2, which entered early access in May, sold 5 million copies within 22 days of launch, underscoring the title’s potential to become Krafton’s next major franchise. The game’s launch also pushed the company’s quarterly PC revenue above 500 billion won for the first time, adding another revenue driver alongside PUBG.

“Krafton has proved the potential of our core IP in the second quarter, setting up the growing structure of our franchise IP,” CEO Kim Chang-han said during an earnings call on Wednesday. “We will strengthen the system to continue developing IP with a competitive edge.”

Krafton plans to unveil five new titles at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany, in August. The lineup will include an unannounced project based on the PUBG intellectual property, along with No Law, Project Zeta, Age Twisters and Tarae: The Unbound. The company aims to launch the new titles by 2027 as part of its strategy to build more franchise IP.