Nexon Achieves Quarterly Revenue of 1 Trillion Won
Overwhelming No.1 Among Domestic Game Companies
Krafton Records Highest Quarterly Revenue
Surpasses NCSoft and Netmarble Performance
The structure of the domestic gaming industry is rapidly being reorganized. In the past, it was divided into '3N' (Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble) and '2K' (Krafton, Kakao Games) based on performance scale. However, as Nexon has taken a commanding lead and the 3N structure has collapsed, Krafton has surpassed NCSoft and Netmarble in performance.
Unrivaled Nexon... Krafton Rising
Nexon became the first in the gaming industry to surpass 1 trillion KRW in quarterly revenue. On the 11th, Nexon announced that it recorded 124 billion yen (approximately 1.192 trillion KRW) in revenue and 56.2 billion yen (approximately 540.6 billion KRW) in operating profit for the first quarter of this year. Revenue increased by 36% and operating profit by 46% compared to the same period last year, marking the highest performance for a single quarter.
Nexon explained that the record-high quarterly revenue and operating profit were driven by stable performance of flagship PC games such as 'FIFA Online 4' and 'Dungeon & Fighter,' as well as mobile games like 'FIFA Mobile' and 'Blue Archive.'
Krafton posted the second-best performance among domestic game companies in the first quarter. It recorded 538.7 billion KRW in revenue and 283 billion KRW in operating profit. The revenue marked the highest quarterly revenue ever. Although operating profit decreased by 10.1% compared to the same period last year, it was the second highest after Nexon.
Krafton's performance was led by its flagship intellectual property (IP), 'Battlegrounds.' The PC and console segments of Battlegrounds saw increased traffic and popular new paid content. The mobile segment secured growth through new traffic inflows.
NCSoft’s Ups and Downs with Lineage, Netmarble’s Continued Losses
NCSoft recorded 478.8 billion KRW in revenue and 81.6 billion KRW in operating profit for the first quarter. Revenue decreased by 39.4% and operating profit by 66.6% compared to the same period last year.
The decline in operating profit was largely due to mobile revenue dropping nearly 48% year-over-year. In particular, revenue from 'Lineage W' plummeted by 67.1% over the year. However, NCSoft’s first-quarter operating profit far exceeded market expectations, thanks to increased revenue from 'Lineage M,' which is in its seventh year since launch.
Netmarble recorded an operating loss again in the first quarter, continuing from the previous quarter. The absence of new releases in the first quarter and seasonal factors affecting overseas operations contributed to the decline in revenue and poor performance. However, the deficit was reduced.
Netmarble posted 602.6 billion KRW in revenue and an operating loss of 28.2 billion KRW in the first quarter. The net loss was 45.8 billion KRW. The net loss significantly decreased due to an increase in non-operating income and expenses, reflecting the absence of impairment costs on intangible assets that were recorded in the previous quarter.
Kakao Games experienced a slowdown in the first quarter as the effect of new releases was not reflected. First-quarter revenue was 249.2 billion KRW, down about 6% year-over-year. Operating profit was approximately 11.3 billion KRW, down about 73% compared to the same period last year.
'ArcheAge War,' which was released at the end of March and only partially reflected in first-quarter revenue, is expected to have its performance fully reflected from the second quarter onward.
A Year of New Releases, Aiming for Performance Recovery
This year, game companies plan to release numerous new titles to drive a performance rebound.
NCSoft will showcase its highly anticipated title 'Throne and Liberty' (TL) globally in the second half of the year. It is coordinating the release schedule with Amazon Games in the U.S. to target Western markets. In Korea, a closed beta test (CBT) will be conducted from the 24th to the 30th with 10,000 participants.
In addition to TL, NCSoft plans to release four new non-massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) this year, aiming to reduce dependence on the Lineage IP and diversify genres.
Netmarble, in urgent need of a performance turnaround, will sequentially release nine new multiplatform titles from the second quarter onward, including 'Tower of God: New World,' 'Solo Leveling: Arise,' and 'Arthdal Chronicles.' Five games that have obtained Chinese game service licenses (panhao) are also set to be launched. Netmarble expects to quickly recover performance through these numerous new releases.
Nexon plans to release various new titles within the year, including 'Mabinogi Mobile,' an MMORPG that reinterprets the sentiment of one of its flagship IPs 'Mabinogi' for mobile platforms, and 'Warhaven,' which offers endless large-scale PvP battles using only cold weapons such as swords and spears.
Kakao Games will begin its full-scale global expansion starting with Japan next month for 'Odin: Valhalla Rising (Odin),' followed by North America and Europe in the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, it will release 'Ares: Rise of Guardians.'
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