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On November 11, Krafton released their earnings report for 2022's Q3. Furthermore, the company also said that they are making continuous efforts to resume BGMI services and will continue investing in the Indian gaming market.
This is the second time that the company has officially mentioned their efforts to re-release BGMI, as Krafton announced in July this year that they would resolve the government's concerns and bring the game back to the country. However, the publisher did not mention any exact number of months or a potential release date for the game's return.
"KRAFTON is continuing its efforts to resume services for BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI) and will continue investing in the Indian games market."
About the BGMI ban in India
The Indian government pulled BGMI out of the digital Google Play and Apple stores due to a breach of users' data privacy and security on July 28, 2022. Unfortunately, the sudden removal of Krafton's popular battle royale title has negatively affected the country's gaming scene, with another popular mobile game, Free Fire, also being banned by the government in February this year.
Almost a year after the PUBG Mobile ban in India back in September 2020, Krafton launched Battlegrounds Mobile India on July 2, 2021 and nurtured the game's competitive scene by organizing several events. Their very first event, called The Launch Party, was a major hit, garnering more than 540,000 concurrent viewers. Later on, they hosted the first 'open to all' BGMI esports competition, the BGIS, with a total prize pool of 1 crore INR.
Interestingly, the publisher hosted BGMI's very first LAN event in July 2022. The company also released the 2022 BGMI Esports roadmap in February this year, with four major events featuring a huge prize pool of 6 crore INR. Unfortunately, only two of these events could be held before the game's nation-wide ban.
A few weeks ago, Yash Bhanushali, owner of Orangutan Gaming, tweeted that Free Fire and BGMI would return for Indian fans shortly. Fans are now eagerly waiting for both of these games to return to the market and will likely rebuild the country's mobile gaming scene. Garena, the publisher of Free Fire, has not commented on a potential re-release since the game's ban.
Krafton Q3, 2022 earnings report
- Revenue: $320.4 million USD (+2% QoQ)
- Operating Profit: $103.6 million (-14% QoQ)
- Net Profit: $167.2 million (+17% QoQ)
Looking at these numbers, Krafton has generated $320.4 million in revenue in the Q3 of 2022, an increase of 2% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). In general, the company has earned a 17% QoQ net profit of $167.2 million.
PUBG Mobile generated $208.6 million in sales in Q3, 2022, which was down 26% year-on-year. The game's recently announced collaboration with football legend Lionel Messi is likely to improve their numbers for the final quarter of this year.
