Solo Leveling is a sensational South Korean story written by Chugong, and made into an anime in Japan in January 2024. Since then, Solo Leveling has continuously grown in terms of popularity, and right now, it stands as one of the most popular modern anime series out there. While few expected Solo Leveling to be a massive success, the anime proved doubters wrong when it went on to become one of the most-watched hits of 2024 and 2025, and stands today as Crunchyroll’s most-reviewed anime of all time.
Solo Leveling was always popular as a Manhwa, but its current scale of success can be attributed to the studios behind the anime — Aniplex and A-1 Pictures, of which the latter plays the bigger role. On June 30, 2026, Solo Leveling Studio A-1 Pictures revealed a massive profit in the last fiscal year, which means that not only will we be able to get Solo Leveling Season 3 soon, but the quality is likely to receive a significant boost.
Solo Leveling Season 3 Gets A Big Boost As Studio A-1 Pictures Reports Massive Profit For Fiscal Year 2025-2026
Solo Leveling’s debut came as a simple novel by Chugong back in 2016, and since then, the story has definitely evolved. In 2018, it went on to receive a Manhwa adaptation by Redice Studio, which put the story on the radar of a significantly bigger audience. The popularity of Solo Leveling reached such heights that eventually, this story was finally adapted by an animation studio in Japan — A-1 Pictures. The Solo Leveling TV anime would go on to be created in collaboration between Aniplex and A-1 Pictures. The first season went on to premiere in January 2024, and the second just a year after, in January 2025. Both seasons of Solo Leveling ended up being incredibly popular, earning the series many accolades, such as Crunchyroll Anime of the Year 2025, and being the highest-rated anime on the streaming platform, among others.
Out of the two studios involved in the production of Solo Leveling, A-1 Pictures is the main one involved. This Japanese studio was founded on May 9, 2005, and it has since produced some massive hit series, other than just Solo Leveling, such as Sword Art Online, Black Butler, Fairy Tail, Your Lie in April, and many other recognizable series. Despite all of this, the studio wasn’t in top shape last year. Even though A-1 Pictures had many popular anime series airing, the studio reported a net loss. In the fiscal year 2025, the studio lost ¥178 million yen, which is about $1.2 million USD. This loss was very worrisome for fans of series like Solo Leveling, as a significant loss could mean the studio would potentially have to drop projects or cut corners in production somewhere.
Luckily, while 2025 was a huge loss for the studio, this year, it’s doing a lot better. In this fiscal year that ended in March 2026, it’s been reported by A-1 Pictures that they made huge profits. This year, the studio was able to net profit ¥91.6 Million Yen, which is around $564K USD. This might not seem like an incredible amount of profit, but it’s enough to know that the studio is heading in a good direction now. Hopefully, we continue seeing steady profits next year and after.
Solo Leveling Officially Announces A New S-Rank Dark Hunter
Solo Leveling is introducing a new Dark S-Rank Hunter named Agnes Rivera.
What A-1 Pictures’ Success Means For Solo Leveling Season 3
A-1 Pictures being financially successful might seem irrelevant to some fans, but it can be a massive factor in deciding the fates of many of our favorite series that are handled by this studio. For one, A-1 Pictures is the giant behind Sung Jinwoo’s story, Solo Leveling. If the studio were to go bankrupt or show signs of continuous decline with no profit, the future of the IP would be in jeopardy, even if Solo Leveling itself is popular and gets a lot of views.
Now that A-1 Pictures has shown significant profit margins, we’re confident that the future Solo Leveling project is safe. The next project we’re looking forward to is Solo Leveling Season 3, and with the funds in, we’re sure A-1 Pictures will handle the project in a phenomenal manner. We already know Solo Leveling Season 3 is coming, even though an official release date hasn’t been made public yet. On June 9, 2026, D&C Media, one of the biggest investors in Solo Leveling and the original publisher of the series, released an investment report that reveals they’re currently investing in the series, with a target release date of 2027 or 2028.
Of course, the newly reported success of A-1 Pictures is also a great sign for other IPs handled by the studio. ‘Too Many Losing Heroines!’ Is a new anime series for the studio, and the fiscal gains mean Season 2 will be handled with quality. The same can be said about Mashle: Magic and Muscles Season 3, and even newly arriving projects like Bless. We’re extremely excited to see an amazing studio brimming with talent, like A-1 Pictures, that prioritizes quality above all else, continue with exciting releases each year.
Solo Leveling Season 3 Success Will Boost A-1 Pictures’ Profits Further
Many fans might be confused as to how A-1 Pictures was at a fiscal loss in 2025, despite the release of one of their most popular anime series yet, Solo Leveling Season 2. Fiscal earnings of studios are a lot more complicated than being simply based on the popularity of one anime. That’s not to say that Season 2 of Solo Leveling didn’t make good money. It could simply mean the studio spent more than they earned on different projects.
In 2024, when Solo Leveling first debuted, the studio did make a profit, and at the moment, Solo Leveling is the most lucrative IP they possess. It is extremely popular at the moment, with an audience worldwide, and the story is unique compared to other big shonen out at the moment. A-1 Pictures and Aniplex are definitely planning to cash in on the popularity of the series. The biggest move the studios could pull out to maximize profits on Solo Leveling would be a third season and a theatrical movie release. Through the A-1 Pictures 2025 Committee report, we know that the studio was inspired by the massive box office success of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. With a big blockbuster movie for Solo Leveling, the IP could become a major financial hit for the studio. Solo Leveling Season 3 itself has become a highly anticipated release, so it should do great numbers both in Japan and worldwide, giving a reasonable boost to the studio as well.
Source: A-1 Pictures Fiscal Report 2026.
