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Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Nexon Releases Earnings for Second Quarter 2025
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NEXON Co., Ltd. (Nexon) ( a global leader in online games, today announced the financial results for its second quarter ending on June 30, 2025. 'Nexon delivered a highly positive performance with better-than-expected results in the second quarter,' said Junghun Lee, President and CEO of Nexon. 'We have re-ignited growth in key titles, created momentum for recent launches, and successfully introduced new services to expand our presence in large markets worldwide. And excitement is building for the October 30 launch of ARC Raiders, which is currently ranked as Steam's #6 Wishlisted game worldwide.' Recent Highlights: Nexon delivered stronger-than-expected results with revenue of ¥118.9 billion, driven by MapleStory, FC ONLINE 1, and Dungeon&Fighter (PC), along with successful regional expansion of MapleStory Worlds and MABINOGI MOBILE. Year over year, revenue was down 3% on an as-reported basis, and up 6% on a constant-currency basis 2. Q2 operating income exceeded our expectations at ¥37.7 billion, driven by a strong top-line performance. Year over year, it was down 17% on an as-reported basis or 10% on a constant-currency basis 2. Net income 3 was down 58% at ¥16.8 billion due to an FX loss of ¥17.5 billion, while recording a ¥8.2 billion FX gain in the same quarter a year ago. The collective Q2 revenue of Nexon's three major franchises — Dungeon&Fighter, MapleStory, and FC — were down 13% year over year, due to the anticipated decline of Dungeon&Fighter Mobile, which launched in Q2 2024. MABINOGI MOBILE sustained the success of its March launch and delivered a solid contribution to the quarter. This week Nexon announced Woochi the Wayfarer, an all-new AAA action-adventure game now in an early stage of development for a global audience on PC and console. Nexon's Embark Studios announced the October 30 release of ARC Raiders. Another Embark game, THE FINALS, received an ISBN license in China in July and began its closed-alpha test on August 8. Franchise Performance D ungeon&Fighter Franchise: Player enthusiasm for recent content updates delivered a solid recovery and 67% year-over-year revenue growth on Dungeon&Fighter (PC) in Q2. However, total franchise revenue declined by 40% due to the Q2 2024 mobile launch. For the same reason, in Q3, we expect approximately 45% year-over-year decline, while expecting continued growth from the PC game. Dungeon&Fighter (PC): In Korea, Q2 revenue marked a new quarterly record with 132% year-over-year growth, led by the accelerated momentum from Q1. In China, Q2 revenue exceeded our expectations, delivering strong double-digit year-over-year growth, driven by the solid performance of the Labor Day update. The subsequent Anniversary update attracted returning users and pushed June MAUs and PUs to their highest levels this year. For Q3, we anticipate year-over-year growth both in Korea and China. Dungeon&Fighter Mobile: While the Q2 performance fell short of expectations due to the Anniversary update being less effective than anticipated at retaining returning players, we see improved prospects in Q3. A series of updates which began with a level-cap increase in July is expected to deliver modest sequential revenue growth. New content co-developed with Tencent is scheduled for release later this year. The First Berserker: Khazan: Our summer campaign kicked off in June with new content and promotions. This year's launch of Khazan gives us confidence in our ability to significantly expand the Dungeon&Fighter franchise worldwide. MapleStory Franchise: In Q2, the franchise delivered an exceptional performance with revenue growing 60% year over year, driven by strength in Korea MapleStory and the regional expansion of MapleStory Worlds. In Q3, we expect the franchise to maintain this momentum with approximately 70% year-over-year growth. Korea MapleStory: The summer update delivered a significant increase in active players and all-time-high PC-cafe market share of 25%, resulting in 91% year-over-year revenue growth and setting a Q2 record. In Q3, we expect revenue to more than double year over year with additional content releases to maintain the strong player engagement. Global MapleStory: Q2 revenue grew year over year, led by the 36% growth in Western markets, which executed multiple promotions to deliver a significant increase to the player base. A summer content update was well-received by the player community. MapleStory Worlds: Q2 revenue significantly exceeded our expectations, achieving more than 7x year-over-year growth. Following the rollout in Europe and Asia 4 this year, the service is generating solid revenue with a growing and deeply engaged player base. We expect the momentum to continue in Q3. MapleStory Universe Project: The blockchain-based PC MMORPG MapleStory N launched in select markets on May 15. This experimental project tests autonomous economic models, fostering a player-driven, in-game economy within the Web3 ecosystem. The project offers insights on how this next-generation approach could overcome the limitations of the traditional Web2 games. MapleStory: Idle RPG: This mobile franchise extension created with idle-game studio, Able Games, is scheduled for global 5 release later this year. FC Franchise: FC ONLINE 1 exceeded our expectations with a 7th anniversary content update which, despite lower seasonality, delivered year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter Q2 revenue growth. In Q3, we expect to maintain player engagement with the Team of the Season update and marketing initiative featuring a legendary players' exhibition match planned for September. Mabinogi Franchise: The successful launch of MABINOGI MOBILE and player enthusiasm for the recent alpha test of Vindictus: Defying Fate support the potential of our Mabinogi IP to become a new and sustainable pillar in Nexon's portfolio of global franchises. MABINOGI MOBILE: Following the successful launch in March, revenue exceeded our outlook with strong MAUs, PUs, and ARPPU. Despite some sequential revenue moderation, we expect a significant contribution in Q3. Vindictus: Defying Fate: In June, we conducted a highly successful alpha test which established the game as the Most-Played Demo in the Steam Next Fest. Shooters: The First Descendant: Q2 results came within the expected range. The large-scale Season 3 launched on August 7 is expected to almost triple quarterly revenue sequentially. THE FINALS: Q2 revenue exceeded our outlook, driven by the well-received June Season 7 update which returned the title to a year-over-year growth trajectory. In July, the game received an ISBN license in China and our partners at Tencent began its closed-alpha test on August 8. ARC Raiders: Following the successful tech test in May, ARC Raiders is building recognition and player excitement. The game is ranked #6 on Steam's Top Wishlists worldwide and is scheduled for release on October 30. Shareholder Return Under the one-year, ¥100 billion share buyback policy announced in February, we completed a ¥50 billion share repurchase on June 25. Also, today, Nexon's board of directors approved the execution of the repurchase for the ¥25 billion worth of shares, scheduled from August 14 to October 31. We plan to complete the repurchases of the remaining ¥25 billion worth of shares by February 2026 at the latest, with consideration of factors including investment opportunities, financial conditions, and the market environment. Third Quarter 2025 Outlook: Expect revenue to be in the range of ¥116.6 billion to ¥127.1 billion, down 14% to 6% year over year on an as-reported basis, down 12% to 4% on a constant-currency basis 2. Expect operating income in the range of ¥32.7 billion to ¥41.2 billion, down 36% to 20% year over year on an as-reported basis. Expect net income 3 of ¥26.4 billion to ¥32.8 billion, down 2% to up 21% on an as-reported basis. FX sensitivity 6 – For every one JPY move against the USD, expect the following impact on our Q3 2025 financials: Revenue: ¥0.83 billion Operating Income: ¥0.23 billion Earnings Letter Investors, analysts, and media are encouraged to visit Nexon's website, and review the Earnings Letter: Q2 2025 with details on our Q2 performance and Q3 outlook. Nexon Investor Relations website: Online Earnings Presentation (Japanese & English) Nexon management will host an online earnings presentation through Zoom Webinar (audio only) for investors, analysts and the media to discuss the company's financial results and outlook which will be simultaneously conducted in Japanese and English. It will consist of brief remarks made by the management team followed by a Q&A session. The Q&A session will be conducted with consecutive translations. Date & Time: August 13, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. JST / 4:00 a.m. EDT Format / Pre-registration Online earnings presentation will be held through Zoom Webinar (audio only). URL, webinar ID, and passcode will be provided upon registration from the link below. Please join the webinar from the URL provided and choose the language by clicking 'Interpretation' button. To register, please go to the Registration Page: Q&A Session An online Q&A session will be conducted with consecutive translation in Japanese, English, and Korean. When asking a question, please wait for the permission to speak prompt to appear on your screen, as some translations take longer to complete. Audio Archive and Transcript An audio archive and a transcript will be available on Nexon Investor Relations website ( This press release is prepared to offer reference information about Nexon to investors and is intended to generally provide investors and analysts with financial and operational information about Nexon, but not to solicit or recommend any sale or purchase of stock or other securities of Nexon. About NEXON Co., Ltd. Founded in 1994, NEXON Co., Ltd. (Nexon) ( is a global leader in the production, development and operation of online games. First listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2011, Nexon has since been listed on JPX400, Nikkei Stock Index 300, and Nikkei 225. Nexon currently has more than 40 games operating in more than 190 countries on PC, console, and mobile. Major game franchises include MapleStory, Mabinogi, and Dungeon&Fighter. In 2024, the company set a multi-year IP Growth Initiative that details vertical growth with new experiences in existing major franchises and horizontal growth with the creation of new pillars in the company's IP portfolio. ___________________________________ 1 Official titles are EA SPORTS FC™ONLINE (PC) and EA SPORTS FC™ONLINE M (mobile). 2 Constant currency is a non-GAAP measure used to show performance unaffected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Constant-currency basis amounts are calculated using the average foreign currency exchange rates for the comparable period in the prior year and applied to the current period. 3 Net income refers to net income attributable to owners of the parent. 4 Asia excluding China and Japan. 5 Excludes China, Vietnam, and other specified regions 6 In most situations, the exchange rates of both the South Korean Won and the Chinese Yuan are linked to the U.S. dollar. For simplicity, forex sensitivity is calculated based on the assumption that Korean Won and Chinese Yuan move similarly against Japanese yen when there is an exchange rate movement in the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen.
Forbes
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Embark Apologizes For Not Shadow Dropping ‘ARC Raiders'
ARC Raiders ARC Raiders made an appearance at Summer Game Fest on Friday, which came with a new trailer and a release date. The release date was not that same day. For a long while now, the ARC Raiders community expected that like Embark's previous game, The Finals, the plan would be that it would be 'shadows dropped' during SGF. There was also some internal file-digging and countdowns that seemed to indicate that as well. That did not happen (the game will be out October 30), and despite never being promised that would happen, the community was not pleased. Not pleased enough where Embark has now issued a response that apologized for a countdown that players just assumed would be a launch. Here's the statement that was posted on Discord: 'In the lead-up to the ARC Raiders date reveal, we put out a countdown to June 6. This gave the false impression that we would be shadow dropping the game. Instead, you found out that ARC Raiders is coming on October 30, making it a countdown to a countdown.' 'The frustration and disappointment that followed is 100% our fault. The teaser we posted came from a place of genuine excitement. We finally have an actual date! But it's clear that what we saw as playful and hype-building came across as misleading and frustrating to many of you, and we get why.' FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder 'We mismanaged the hype, we misread the situation, and we're so sorry that this led to disappointment. We're making this game for you and your reaction to ARC Raiders has been humbling and overwhelming and exciting.' 'Next steps: we're putting our heads down and focusing on building the game. We know that games live and die by polish and quality, balance, and long-term fun. We need this additional time to ensure we can meet your expectations. Look here and on our socials for updates on our progress and the road to launch. Thank you for holding us to a high standard. We intend to meet it.' Arc Raiders It's a weird situation that feels like a mix of both player entitlement and ARC not capitalizing on its momentum. Or at least not managing expectations about what was or wasn't coming. ARC recent had a stellar Alpha that stepped on rival extraction shooter Marathon's Alpha, and the game simply seemed ready to go. Though somehow, ARC is now coming out a month after Marathon, which looked far less polished in its Alpha (though there is a high chance Marathon will now be delayed after that poor showing and plagiarism issues). In hindsight, the move was probably to just announce the release date at the end of the Alpha to not create a hype bubble that let fans draw their own conclusions. It does not seem like they simply could have changed their mind and shadow dropped it when they weren't planning to, as despite what the Alpha may have suggested, there is clearly more work to be done over the next 4-5 months. But no one is happy after all this, developer or fans, and this all should have been handled better by both sides. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘ARC Raiders' Gets A Promising, Imminent Release Date Update
ARC Raiders Players recently fought and stealthed their way from the ARC Raiders Closed Alpha, and almost everyone had a similar thought: This game seems ready for release. That's not usually the case with an Alpha, and while there were certainly balance issues, it felt like a complete game perhaps minus a few things that were being held in the test. But it didn't even look like it needed say, visual polish. There may be a reason for that, and some players believe they've found the actual release date for ARC Raiders, which may be imminent. A post-Alpha update was added to the game and for ten minutes, players dug around to find that through the .exe file it led to a 'tick counter' link which ended on June 6. In what seems like an unlikely coincidence, Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest show begins on, you guessed it, June 6. You will also never guess when Embark's last game, The Finals, debuted. That was at The Game Awards 2023, where it was instantly playable when it was shown off. A 'shadow drop.' The one difference was that there was an actual open beta for The Finals a month before The Game Awards, where there has not been anything like that here. But: 1) The game feeling ready to release 2) This dug-up date being the day Summer Games Fest starts 3) Embark shadow-dropping The Finals at a different Keighley event I mean, that all points to the idea that this June 6 date, just under two weeks from now, may in fact pan out. Arc Raiders ARC Raiders was viewed as a solid new entry in the extraction shooter genre during its last Closed Alpha, with its playercount increasing each day during the test. It also had the benefit of running the test at the same time as rival extraction shooter Marathon, the upcoming Bungie game and most players would say it compared very favorably. Marathon was more unfinished in what felt like a true Alpha test ahead of an alleged September 23 release date. Bungie just stumbled into a controversy when it was revealed that stolen art assets have been used in the game. ARC Raiders has had no such controversy and it would simply not be surprising if it dropped at Summer Games Fest. One issue with shadow drops, however, is that everyone is suddenly rushing to play all at once, creating server or login issues, which is exactly what happened with The Finals. But hopefully they're preparing for that. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The ‘ARC Raiders' Alpha Gained Players Nearly Every Single Day
ARC Raiders The second Closed Alpha test of ARC Raiders got a lot of attention this week as word spread about the new extraction shooter. That positive word of mouth led to a significant achievement, an increase in the number of players every day minus a tiny tick down last night, reflecting glowing sentiments about the game and also more codes being issued over time. ARC Raiders will be a new entry in the extraction genre releasing some time this year, it's claimed. But after experiencing the Alpha it seems pretty close to ready at this point, and many are predicting developer Embark may pull off another shadow drop this summer like they did with The Finals, their other PvP game that you may not realize has in fact maintained a solidly consistent playercount over time. Arc Raiders Pretty quickly, ARC Raiders demonstrated how it was a somewhat less hardcore, but appealing version of Tarkov with traditional extraction elements ranging from crafting to home base upgrades. The game itself features harrowing robotic PvE enemies, including one hulking boss that was only defeated 58 times total as tens of thousands of players played the Alpha. And of course, there are plenty of PvP fights as well, the core of the experience and there have been some pretty funny clips already from the test. What stood out most to me as I played was the sound design, relying more heavily than most other games I've ever played on footsteps, gunfire and often looting, prying open extremely loud containers or setting off blaring alarms when looting big drops. Yes, other games have this but it's also how it sounds. I've never been so terrified of cracking gunfire nearby or grit my teeth as hard as when I'm jamming a crowbar into a screaming rusted box. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Yes, all this is inevitably leading to the performance of the game versus Marathon, another high profile extraction shooter that has been running a Closed Alpha simultaneously, though a game that is obviously far less finished than ARC. It was a stark contrast in reception, and Bungie's new shooter lacked many of the extraction elements fans of that genre want, Alpha or not, while also feeling somewhat inaccessible to new players, especially those hoping to play solo. More than ARC, anyway. As such, the Marathon Closed Alpha lost PC players every day, the inverse of ARC, though some of that may be due to the somewhat inexplicable decision to barely give out new codes despite always promising more. There are still too many unknowns to know what will happen with Marathon, but ARC? ARC seems destined to be at least some level of genre hit. I am not expecting insane numbers or the ability to dethrone Tarkov. But if it settles into a Finals cadence, I think Embark would be just fine with that. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Yes, ‘ARC Raiders' Makes ‘Marathon' Look Bad
Arc Raiders It's an unproven trend at this point, but the new race toward live multiplayer games appears to be the genre of extraction shooters, and this week brought an unusual situation with two upcoming 2025 extraction games both running Closed Alphas and so far, eliciting different reactions. Those two games, as you can guess, are Bungie's Marathon and Embark Studio's ARC Raiders, both entries in the extraction genre that are allegedly being released in 2025. Marathon has a date, September 23, but as of now ARC does not. There's no getting around it. The reaction to the Marathon Alpha has mostly been mixed to underwhelming. The initial reaction to the ARC Raiders Alpha has visibly skewed more positive. So what's going on? Simply put, ARC Raiders is a much more traditional extraction shooter in the vein of Tarkov, but at least somewhat more accessible and better-looking, given it's a 2025 release. It's a Fallout-esque concept of scavenging a ruined wasteland populated by hostile robots and other players. At its core, you skulk around, harvest materials and weapons, and attempt to extract (by going down, not up), either avoiding or killing enemies along the way. Or being killed, of course. It's got all the traditional extraction-y things. Custom characters, crafting, proximity chat, a home base of sorts, and it just…plays much more like a traditional extraction shooter with its grounded combat. Add in some great visuals and truly fantastic sound design, and it's not a mystery why this positive reception is occurring. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Marathon Marathon has ditched a lot of this in an attempt to be unique, but in many ways that doesn't feel like it's the case, taking out hardcore elements extraction players want, while also perhaps not being all that accessible to the wider playerbase they want to attract. The opposite is true here. Hero characters, not custom ones. No proximity chat, no crafting and importantly, no Solos at launch, which is something ARC Raiders does have. Community conversations with Bungie are not terribly promising, saying they'll get around to things like proximity chat and Solos eventually, but not for launch, as neither are an urgent priority according to them. The end result here is an odd mix of traditional extraction elements, slow moving looting and stamina roadblocks, but paired with often Apex-like firefights with less mobility. It often pairs uncomfortably. The Marathon Alpha feels less polished and more feature-light. All the claims of 'it's early, it's a Closed Alpha' don't exactly match up with the fact that ARC is also doing a Closed Alpha which seems more substantive and finished, and is likely to be out a good bit after Marathon, if not pushed to 2026. But Marathon launches in six months. Marathon The expectations are also not comparable. Marathon has been in development for six years and this will be Sony's biggest upcoming live service game after a string of cancellations and failures. And of course its famed shooter-maker Bungie's new IP after massive hits Halo and Destiny spanning 20+ years. ARC's Embark has the same amount of devs in the entire studio as are working on Marathon at Bungie, around 300, but a portion of those are managing The Finals, the studio's other multiplayer game that may not be the talk of the town these days, but boasts a consistent playercount, which many may not realize. The reception here has almost been night and day. There's no telling if ARC will for sure be a hit or if Marathon will for sure be a failure. It's not that simple. But observing how this has gone, it's impossible not to compare the two and say this has been a much better week for ARC. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
