[Edaily Reporter An Yu-ri ] KRAFTON(259960)is seeking external investment to expand its AI research and development. Having posted record-high operating profit and revenue in the first half of 2026, the company plans to accelerate the development of large language models (LLMs) and World Models by securing external funding in addition to its own investments.

Kim Chang-han, CEO of KRAFTON, said during a conference call to announce second-quarter earnings on the 29th, “Since the scale of AI investment could be quite large, we are making our own investments but are also striving to attract external investment to drive further growth.”

CEO Kim added, “Many people believe that physical AI will open up even greater market opportunities following LLMs, and in particular, world models for physical AI have been receiving a lot of attention since late last year and early this year,” noting, “The relevance and strengths that game data and game companies possess are gradually becoming apparent in the development of world models.”

On the same day, KRAFTON unveiled the “A.X K2 Raon-Speech” voice AI foundation model as part of the government’s “Independent AI Foundation Model” project. According to the company, the model ranked first in overall performance for Korean and third for English among publicly available voice language models with 30 billion parameters or fewer.

KRAFTON posted its highest-ever revenue and operating profit in the first half of this year. On a consolidated basis, revenue for the first half of the year was 2.6616 trillion won, and operating profit was 972.5 billion won. Second-quarter revenue totaled 1.2902 trillion won, and operating profit was 410.9 billion won. These figures represent year-over-year increases of 94.9% and 67.0%, respectively.

The company achieved its best-ever results thanks to the steady growth of the PUBG IP and the positive impact of “Subnautica 2,” which was released in early access last May. However, net income for the second quarter turned to a loss of 27.4 billion won due to non-operating losses, including expenses related to “Subnautica” developer Unknown Worlds and foreign exchange losses. The company emphasized that all costs related to Unknown Worlds have been fully reflected in this quarter’s results and will not recur in the future.

Continuing Expansion of New IP Franchises Beyond PUBG and Subnautica 2

KRAFTON plans to continue advancing the technology behind “PUBG Ally,” the in-game AI companion character. Regarding PUBG Ally, CEO Kim stated, “We are developing a more upgraded version based on user reactions and feedback,” adding, “We are internally reviewing whether, once commercialized, it will merely add fun at the content level or if it can be monetized.”

The new title, Subnautica 2, aims to expand its fanbase through two years of content updates. PUBG is expanding its UGC (user-generated content) ecosystem. Bae Dong-geun, KRAFTON’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), explained, “As of the second quarter of this year, UGC modes account for the mid-10% range of all modes,” adding, “UGC is already resonating quite strongly with users.”

The company will also continue to develop new IPs and expand its franchises. Next month at Gamescom 2026 in Germany, KRAFTON plans to unveil five new titles, including a new project based on the PUBG IP, as well as “NO LAW,” “Project ZETA,” “Age Twisters,” and “TARAE: The Unbound.”

KRAFTON also unveiled plans for synergies with ADK, a Japanese content company it acquired this year. Regarding the collaboration with ADK, CEO Kim stated, “One of the purposes of acquiring ADK was to create deep synergies in the animation sector,” adding, “Although there are no tangible results yet, we are exploring ways for animation and games to generate synergies that go beyond mere collaborations in the near future.”