KRAFTON Unveils Record $7B+ Shareholder Return Plan Through 2028

KRAFTON just dropped some serious financial news, and it's a big deal for anyone keeping an eye on the company behind PUBG.

The South Korean gaming giant has locked in its biggest shareholder return plan ever. On February 9, KRAFTON's board of directors approved a three-year program running from 2026 through 2028, with a total payout exceeding 1 trillion KRW. That's a massive jump compared to the 693 billion KRW returned during the 2023-2025 period — a boost of more than 44%.

So what does this actually mean? KRAFTON is splitting the returns into two main buckets: cash dividends and share buybacks/cancellations. And here's a first — the company is introducing a cash dividend system for the very first time since it was founded. They're planning to dish out 100 billion KRW every year, totaling 300 billion KRW over the three years. The dividends will be paid as "capital reduction dividends," which is a fancy way of saying they're trying to ease the tax burden on smaller shareholders.

On the buyback side, KRAFTON plans to repurchase and cancel over 700 billion KRW worth of shares. All the return funds outside of cash dividends will go toward buying back stock, and every single share repurchased will be fully cancelled to lift shareholder value. The company says this approach boosts capital efficiency and market responsiveness, while leaving the door open to scaling up returns even further depending on market and financial conditions.

KRAFTON CEO CH Kim didn't hold back on the ambition. "This shareholder return policy reflects KRAFTON's firm commitment to enhancing shareholder value," he said. "We will continue to push differentiated game development and strategic investments globally, and based on our ample cash holdings and stable cash generation, we will balance shareholder returns while continuously raising our sustainable corporate value."

The first move kicks off soon — starting February 10, KRAFTON will begin its initial buyback round worth 200 billion KRW, gradually rolling out the full three-year plan from there.

With PUBG still pulling in players worldwide and new projects in the pipeline, KRAFTON is clearly betting big on itself. What do you think — smart play or playing it too safe? Drop your thoughts in the comments.