PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
HanbitSoft has sustained several consecutive quarters of operating profit on the strength of 'Granado Espada M,' even as revenue from its flagship title has entered an adjustment phase.
Annual operating profit turned positive at KRW 0.28bn in 2025, and H1 2026 operating profit rose 558.6% year-on-year
Granado Espada M surpassed KRW 40bn in cumulative revenue, with plans to expand from Taiwan/Southeast Asia/China into North America and Europe in H2
Q2 2026 revenue declined year-on-year, signaling the flagship title may have passed its revenue peak
Continued portfolio diversification through non-gaming businesses such as drone distribution and the 'VoiceGen' AI voice synthesis solution
Earnings improvement at equity-method affiliate IMC Games contributed to net income growth
Founded in 1999, HanbitSoft is a Korean game publisher operating both PC online games and mobile games.
Its online game lineup includes the stylish rhythm-dance title 'Audition,' the long-running MMORPGs 'Granado Espada' and 'Aika,' which have won Korea Game Awards, and 'Hellgate: London,' which retains a global fan base.
The mobile MMORPG 'Granado Espada M,' launched in February 2024, now drives the bulk of revenue and has surpassed KRW 40 billion in cumulative revenue through self-operated service in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and key Southeast Asian markets.
Beyond gaming, subsidiary HanbitDrone distributes industrial and agricultural drones from global makers such as DJI, a business structured around purchasing and reselling drone units, which means cost-of-goods pressure rises alongside revenue.
In AI, the company is upgrading its 'VoiceGen' voice-synthesis service, a solution that converts text into natural-sounding avatar speech, and is expanding its use from game characters into broader digital content production.
Revenue composition has swung significantly over the past five years between gaming and drone distribution, with drone distribution accounting for as much as 77.9% of total revenue in 2022 before the game services share expanded again following a 2023 business restructuring.
A shareholder of major shareholder T3 Entertainment also serves as CEO and director, reflecting an affiliated ownership structure, and results at equity-method affiliate IMC Games also feed into net income.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩11.9B | ₩600M | 5.2% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩10.2B | ₩200M | 2.0% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩7.4B | -₩300M | −4.7% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩8.6B | ₩2.2B | 25.5% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩6.8B | ₩600M | 9.3% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩56.3B | ₩3.5B | ₩2B | 6.3% | 10.6% | 76.8% |
| 2023 | ₩25.9B | -₩6.5B | -₩9.4B | −25.2% | −93.6% | 103.7% |
| 2024 | ₩33.3B | -₩1.4B | ₩1.7B | −4.2% | 14.2% | 88.7% |
| 2025 | ₩37.9B | ₩300M | ₩5.2B | 0.8% | 30.2% | 25.7% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-05
HanbitSoft's consolidated revenue fell sharply from KRW 56.3 billion in 2022 to KRW 25.9 billion in 2023, before recovering for two straight years to KRW 33.3 billion in 2024 and KRW 37.9 billion in 2025.
Operating profit swung from a KRW 3.5 billion gain in 2022 to losses of KRW 6.5 billion in 2023 and KRW 1.4 billion in 2024, before turning positive again at KRW 0.28 billion in 2025.
Net income attributable to owners posted a large loss of KRW 9.4 billion in 2023, then expanded to KRW 1.7 billion in 2024 and KRW 5.2 billion in 2025 — a far larger swing than the change in operating profit, and notably Q4 2025 alone recorded net income of KRW 3.66 billion despite an operating loss of KRW 0.35 billion, suggesting a substantial contribution from non-operating factors.
On a quarterly basis, revenue of KRW 11.9 billion and operating profit of KRW 0.62 billion in Q2 2025 slowed to KRW 10.2 billion and KRW 0.20 billion in Q3, before Q4 revenue fell to KRW 7.4 billion with an operating loss.
Q1 2026 showed a clear rebound with revenue of KRW 8.6 billion, operating profit of KRW 2.19 billion, and net income of KRW 2.81 billion. Q2 2026 revenue slipped again to KRW 6.8 billion, but the company still posted operating profit of KRW 0.63 billion and net income of KRW 1.05 billion.
Over the most recent four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), revenue fluctuated but operating profit remained positive in every quarter, while revenue itself shrank from the KRW 11.9 billion level in Q2 2025 to roughly KRW 6.8 billion in Q2 2026, pointing to an adjustment phase following the flagship title's revenue peak.
Korea's game industry is passing through a period of intensified competition in H1 2026 as flagship titles from major publishers launched almost simultaneously.
Netmarble's 'Seven Deadly Sins: Origin,' NHN's 'AbyssDia,' and Kakao Games' 'Odin Q' have rolled out in succession, and genre diversification into open-world and sub-culture RPGs has become more pronounced.
In this environment, smaller publishers such as HanbitSoft tend to favor reviving existing IP and expanding overseas licensing over developing new blockbuster titles.
Granado Espada M illustrates this approach, following a sequential regional expansion from Korea and Taiwan into Southeast Asia and now into a China publishing agreement with Jiangsu 39.
In the drone distribution market, demand for industrial and agricultural drones persists, but the low margins and cost burden inherent in a buy-and-resell structure remain a structural limitation.
The AI voice-synthesis and avatar market remains at an early growth stage, and HanbitSoft's VoiceGen is still focused primarily on technology refinement.
The company stated it plans to launch Granado Espada M in new Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand in H2 and to expand self-operated service into North America and Europe. For China, it is progressing localization work with local publisher Jiangsu 39 and discussing an early launch timeline.
Its next title, a mobile MMORPG tentatively called 'Aika Mobile' based on the 'Aika Online' IP, is under development by ArcNine Games — a studio founded by the original development team — which is working to bring large-scale realm-versus-realm content and the original's identity into a mobile environment.
The company explained that cost efficiencies in development and marketing, along with AI technology adoption, contributed to recent profitability improvements.
Improved results at equity-method affiliate IMC Games have also positively affected net income, and the company indicated plans to strengthen this collaboration going forward. Management stated its intention to continue the profitability improvement trend seen in Q1 and Q2 into the second half of the year.
HanbitSoft has alternated between losses and profits over recent years, so the current run of consecutive quarterly operating profits is relatively uncommon and represents a fresh phase in how the market may assess earnings stability.
Its price-to-book ratio trades in a range that reflects a degree of premium over net asset value, a level that can be read as combining the book-value impact of past large losses with the recent earnings recovery.
With no dividend track record, there is no direct basis for comparison against industry peers that pay dividends. Earnings-based valuation metrics require careful interpretation given the influence of non-operating factors embedded in net income since Q4 2025.
Because the stock spent an extended period in loss-making territory where valuation multiples carried limited meaning, whether the recent earnings recovery persists in coming quarters will be the key factor in how such metrics should be read going forward.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-05
Operating profit stayed positive from Q4 2025 through Q2 2026, and H1 2026 operating profit and net income rose 558.6% and 150.6% year-on-year, respectively. The standalone entity also swung to profit, confirming an improvement in the core gaming business's profitability.
Management attributed the improvement to reduced development and marketing costs alongside AI technology adoption.
Following launches in Korea and Taiwan, Granado Espada M expanded into Southeast Asia, and localization is underway under a publishing agreement with Chinese publisher Jiangsu 39.
Plans for H2 also include new Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand and self-operated expansion into North America and Europe, reflecting a strategy of building multiple simultaneous revenue sources.
Alongside gaming, the company operates non-gaming businesses such as drone distribution (HanbitDrone) and the VoiceGen AI voice-synthesis solution, reducing reliance on a single business line. Improved results at equity-method affiliate IMC Games have also continued to positively contribute to net income.
Q2 2026 revenue of KRW 6.8 billion declined year-on-year. The company explained that Granado Espada M has entered a 'long-term stabilization phase,' producing a revenue adjustment. Until new-region revenue ramps up meaningfully, a slowdown in existing markets could persist.
Operating profit has swung widely over the past four years, from a KRW 3.5 billion gain in 2022 to losses of KRW 6.5 billion in 2023 and KRW 1.4 billion in 2024, before a modest KRW 0.28 billion profit in 2025.
The drone distribution business is structured around buying and reselling units, meaning cost-of-goods pressure rises alongside revenue growth. This history calls for a cautious approach to how durable the recent profit trend will prove to be.
The 2025 net income attributable to owners of KRW 5.2 billion far exceeded the same period's operating profit of KRW 0.28 billion, and in Q4 alone net income reached KRW 3.66 billion despite an operating loss of KRW 0.35 billion.
This suggests non-operating factors, rather than core operations, may have driven much of the net income gain. If such factors do not recur, the scale of net income could change significantly.
With high revenue dependence on a single title (Granado Espada M), competition has intensified as major domestic publishers launched flagship titles in succession during H1 2026.
If new overseas market entries (China, North America, Europe) do not proceed as planned, diversification of the revenue base could be delayed.
Operating profit alternated between gains and losses over the past four years, and the 2025 net income improvement appears to have been driven by non-operating factors well beyond the scale of operating profit.
The drone distribution business carries a high cost-of-goods ratio, a structural feature that means revenue growth does not automatically translate into improved profitability.
A shareholder of major shareholder T3 Entertainment concurrently serves as CEO and director, warranting scrutiny of intercompany transactions and decision-making structures. The company has a history of convertible bond issuance, so the possibility of equity dilution from future fundraising cannot be ruled out.
Q3 earnings release will show whether new Southeast Asian and overseas expansion revenue for Granado Espada M is being reflected and whether operating profit remains positive.
Investors should monitor the concrete execution of plans to launch in Thailand and expand self-operated service into North America and Europe.
The timing and initial performance of the Granado Espada M China launch via publisher Jiangsu 39 should be confirmed.
Development progress on the next title 'Aika Mobile' and any disclosure of a concrete launch schedule should be tracked.
The confirmed 2026 annual results and audit report will allow reassessment of whether operating profit remained positive and the share of non-operating factors within net income.
HanbitSoft has continued its earnings turnaround, moving from a full-year operating profit swing to positive in 2025 to sustaining multiple consecutive profitable quarters through H1 2026.
Overseas expansion of Granado Espada M — into Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and China — has served as the key driver of revenue diversification, with North American and European entry also planned for H2.
However, Q2 2026 revenue declined year-on-year, alongside signs that the flagship title has passed its revenue peak, making it a key point to watch whether new-region revenue can offset this going forward.
A substantial portion of the 2025 net income improvement stemmed from non-operating factors well beyond the scale of operating profit, a point worth considering when assessing earnings quality.
Non-gaming businesses such as drone distribution and AI voice synthesis, along with results from an equity-method affiliate, complement the portfolio, but the margin structure and scale of each remain limited.
Overall, the stock appears to be at a stage where an early-phase earnings recovery and growing pains in flagship-title revenue are occurring simultaneously.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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