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Krafton to become largest shareholder of game developer Neptune for $115M

Published: 29 Apr. 2025, 21:23

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

Game publisher Krafton's logo is displayed at Gamescom 2024 in August 2024. [YONHAP]

Game company Krafton is set to become the largest shareholder of game developer Neptune from Kakao Games, which sold off all 39.37 percent of existing shares for 165 billion won ($114.9 million).

Krafton said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it will buy all 18,387,039 shares of Neptune that Kakao Games currently holds. The deal will be sealed by June 30.

Neptune was founded in 2012 by Jeong Wook, a former CEO of NHN Hangame, and mainly develops casual puzzle games. It is also famed for the Eternal Return battle royale game franchise. Neptune grossed 121.6 billion won in revenue and 9.6 billion won in operating profit in 2024.

Krafton already owns 3.16 percent of Neptune. The company will own a total of 42.53 percent after the deal with Kakao Games, making it the largest shareholder of the company.

The move comes as Krafton saw a sunny first quarter in 2025 upon the success of both its existing and new titles.

Krafton said Tuesday its first quarter net profit rose 6.6 percent on year, driven by the success of the shooter title and its new life simulation game inZOI.

Krafton’s head of Deep Learning Division Lee Kang-wook during Nvidia’s showcase held at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 8. [KRAFTON]

Krafton's net profit for the January-March period totaled 371.5 billion won 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 percent to 457.3 billion won, and sales jumped 31.3 percent 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.

BY YOON SO-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]