Why Does Netmarble Have a 70% Overseas Sales Ratio?

Additional Update Effects 'Toktok'
Effective Country-Specific Differentiation Using Global Famous IP
'A3: Steel Alive' Also Targets Global Market in Q3

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Netmarble recently conducted several updates adding new stories and characters to 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross' in the North American market, which proved to be quite successful. Normally maintaining a position within the top 50 on the Apple App Store revenue rankings, the game surged to 3rd place on the day of last month's update. It also rose to 9th place following a mid-month update this month. This success is attributed to the increased time spent at home due to the persistent COVID-19 situation in North America.

◆ Overseas Revenue Accounts for 70% = According to the gaming industry on the 29th, Netmarble's mobile games are performing well globally, generating over 70% of total revenue from overseas markets. This contrasts with competitors whose overseas revenue accounts for less than 50%. The direct reason for Netmarble's outstanding overseas performance is analyzed to be its differentiated country-specific strategies based on globally familiar intellectual properties (IPs). In the third quarter, 'A3: Still Alive,' which has already been a huge hit domestically, will also target the global market. This is why Netmarble's overseas revenue is highly anticipated this year.

Netmarble recorded global revenue of 377.7 billion KRW in the first quarter, accounting for 71% of total revenue (532.9 billion KRW). Last year, Netmarble's global revenue ratio steadily increased from 60% in Q1, 64% in Q2, 68% in Q3, to 72% in Q4. The North American market also holds a significant share overseas. In Q1 this year, North America accounted for 33% (175.8 billion KRW) of total revenue, surpassing the domestic market's 29% (154.5 billion KRW). Considering that North America's revenue share was around 28-31% last year, this is a strong performance. This stands out even more when compared to competitors. As of Q1, Nexon's overseas revenue was 470.3 billion KRW, making up 52% of total revenue (904.5 billion KRW), while NCSoft's overseas revenue accounted for 13% (96.5 billion KRW) of total revenue (731.1 billion KRW).

◆ Effective Global IP Localization Strategy = The key to Netmarble's strong presence in overseas markets is its focus on localization using globally famous IPs. Netmarble stated, "We concentrated more on global market strategies than domestic ones, striving to implement globally renowned IPs as faithfully as possible in our games, and conducted thorough localization to reflect local users' preferences." Among domestic games ranked within the top 30 on the North American Apple App Store revenue chart are Netmarble's The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, 'Marvel Contest of Champions,' and Krafton's 'PUBG Mobile.' Among these, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross and Marvel Contest of Champions accounted for 26% of Netmarble's Q1 revenue, sharing the commonality of being based on globally famous IPs. Netmarble explained, "Although The Seven Deadly Sins is a Japanese manga, it is familiar in the North American market as well, and our effort to faithfully reflect the original characters is the key to its popularity there." Marvel Contest of Champions, developed by Netmarble's North American subsidiary Kabam, also succeeded in appealing to North American gamers by utilizing the globally famous 'Marvel' IP. A Netmarble official said, "To deliver a more familiar image to North American gamers, the game is serviced under a different name than the domestic title 'Marvel All-Star Battle'." Netmarble's 'Lineage 2 Revolution' also consistently performs well globally, accounting for 11% of total Q1 revenue. Netmarble added, "North American gamers prefer realistic characters over cute ones, so we have modified the domestic version's character appearances to be more mature for the North American market."

Netmarble plans to release A3: Still Alive, a fusion genre of battle royale and massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that succeeded domestically, to the global market, raising industry expectations for Netmarble's improved performance in the second half of the year. Released first in Korea on March 12, A3: Still Alive has been praised for its success, ranking between 3rd and 9th in Google Play revenue rankings since its launch.