Q1 Operating Loss of 11.9 Billion KRW
Focusing Efforts on Performance Improvement with Major Titles like Seven Knights
New Mobile and PC Platform Games Ready for Launch in Second Half
Expanding into Blockchain Games
Park Young-jae, Head of Business Group at Netmarble, is explaining the business strategy at the Seven Knights Revolution media showcase held on the 16th.
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seung-jin] Netmarble, which recorded its worst performance since 2012 by returning to an operating loss in the first quarter, is aiming for a turnaround in results by launching major titles including the new ‘Seven Knights’ in the second half of the year.
‘Seven Knights’ is Back
On the 16th, Netmarble held a media showcase for ‘Seven Knights Revolution’ at its headquarters in Guro-gu, Seoul, announcing the official domestic release on July 28.
Netmarble CEO Kwon Young-sik said, "Seven Knights Revolution is Netmarble’s fourth title with the ‘Revolution’ label," adding, "Based on the development capabilities and experience accumulated through servicing Seven Knights 1 and 2, it inherits and develops the strengths of the previous works, fills in the shortcomings, and is an evolved, complete form of the Seven Knights IP."
Seven Knights Revolution is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) characterized by high-level graphics and allowing users a high degree of freedom in an open world. To complete the unique visuals of Seven Knights Revolution, Netmarble applied a rendering technique that emphasizes material and light expression rather than typical cartoon rendering.
Netmarble recorded an operating loss of 11.9 billion KRW in the first quarter, marking an ‘earnings shock.’ This was due to declining revenue from existing games and increased labor and marketing costs. Expectations for Seven Knights Revolution are therefore high. The original Seven Knights, released in 2014, recorded 60 million cumulative global downloads and secured a solid fan base overseas. It also played a role in demonstrating the potential of Korean mobile games by ranking third in sales on the Japanese App Store, a barren land for domestic games.
Seven Knights is Netmarble’s own intellectual property (IP). Netmarble mainly sells and distributes external games, and even if these games succeed, most of the revenue must be paid as royalties, resulting in low operating profit. Last year, Netmarble paid 1.0133 trillion KRW in fees, accounting for 43% of total operating expenses. In contrast, since Seven Knights is an in-house IP, its success is expected to help improve profitability.
New Titles and Metaverse Development
Major new titles such as ‘Overprime,’ ‘Grand Cross W,’ and ‘Hype Squad,’ which are based on mobile and PC platforms, will also be launched in the second half. Overprime, which combines third-person shooting and MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) genres, is focusing on finalizing development with a second closed beta test conducted in May. The real-time battle royale game Hype Squad will be serviced on the global gaming platform Steam. An alpha test is being conducted from the 14th to the 21st ahead of its release in the second half.
Netmarble is also expanding its blockchain game portfolio. The sequel to ‘Modoo Marble,’ titled ‘Modoo Marble: Meta World,’ is being developed as an investment game where players purchase land and build buildings in a metaverse based on real cities, trading real estate tokenized as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), while inheriting the strategic board game elements of the original.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a real map-based real estate metaverse (extended virtual world) where players can adventure with their avatars in Modoo Marble: Meta World. Other games in preparation include ‘Monster Taming: Arena,’ ‘Champions: Ascension,’ and ‘King of Fighters: Arena.’
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