Mr. Blue Reports 2Q Operating Loss Due to Temporary Increase in Game Business Expenses... "3Q Profit Turnaround Confirmed"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Online comic and webtoon specialist company Mr. Blue announced on the 13th through a public disclosure that it recorded an operating loss of 500 million KRW in the second quarter based on consolidated financial statements. During the same period, sales amounted to 16 billion KRW, and a net loss of 800 million KRW was recorded.

A company official stated, “The game business sales of our subsidiary Blue Potion Games decreased, and due to temporary cost increases such as increased advertising expenses related to the Southeast Asian market launch of ‘EOS Red’ and employee incentive payments, an operating loss was recorded. The online comic and webtoon business maintains an operating profit trend, and with the large-scale update expected for the 2nd anniversary of ‘EOS Red,’ we anticipate a return to profitability in the third quarter.”

The online comic and webtoon business has steadily increased B2C sales due to growth in the number of subscribers and payment amounts on its own platform. As of the end of the first half of this year, the number of subscribers on its own platform reached 6.1 million, an increase of about 240,000 compared to the end of last year. The average payment amount per transaction on the platform surpassed 15,685 KRW, showing a gradual upward trend.

Mr. Blue is conducting mobile game development and publishing business through its subsidiary Blue Potion Games. ‘EOS Red,’ officially launched in the domestic market in 2019, reached 2nd place in Google Play Store sales rankings without large-scale advertising and marketing, and achieved cumulative domestic and international sales of 92.3 billion KRW due to its great success in the Taiwan market.

‘EOS Red’ plans to carry out a large-scale update titled ‘The Deadliest HI2TORY, The Most Dangerous 2nd Anniversary’ on the 26th to commemorate its 2nd anniversary since the official domestic launch. The strategy is to attract new users through the large-scale update and minimize the churn of existing users.

Seungjin Cho, CEO of Mr. Blue, said, “The game business is developing a sequel to ‘EOS Red’ and also plans to develop games utilizing the ‘Mu-hyup 4dae Cheonwang’ IP, for which we hold the copyright. Although we recorded an operating loss in the second quarter due to temporary cost increases, we expect it is fully possible to achieve an annual operating profit.”