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Korea Herald
16-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Krafton, Nexon solidify industry-leading standings with upbeat earnings
Struggline NCSoft, Kakao Games pin hope on new titles Krafton and Nexon are solidifying their leadership in the Korean game industry, posting strong earnings in the first quarter to start the year strong on the back of successful new titles and ongoing popularity of the existing intellectual property. Krafton logged record-high first quarter revenue of 874.2 billion won ($625.8 million) and operating profit of 457.3 billion won from the January-to-March period this year, up 31.3 percent and 47.3 percent on year, respectively. Krafton's megahit battle royale shooter PUBG: Battlegrounds continued to attract gamers, with the maximum number of concurrent users reaching 1.4 million in March, according to the company. The game developer's life simulation game inZOI, which became available for early access on global gaming platform Steam in March, sold 1 million copies within a week of its debut to set a new record as the fastest Korean game to reach the milestone. Nexon raked in 1.08 trillion won in revenue and 395.2 billion won in operating profit in the first quarter, up 5 percent and 43 percent respectively from the same period last year. Nexon's two longstanding popular games — Dungeon & Fighter, an online multiplayer side-scrolling action game, and MapleStory, an online side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG — led the company's robust sales. With the veterans leading the way, The First Berserker: Khazan, a hardcore action RPG based on Dungeon & Fighter, and Mabinogi Mobile, a multi-access MMORPG, gave a boost as they were newly released in March. Netmarble delivered an earnings surprise as it logged 623.9 billion won in revenue and 49.7 billion won in operating profit, up 6.6 percent and 1243.2 percent on year, respectively. The operating profit, which shot way over the market consensus, was achieved thanks to the stable performances from its diverse lineup of games such as action RPG Solo Leveling:ARISE and fighting action games Marvel Contest of Champions. RF Online Next, a space-themed MMORPG released on March 20, accounted for about 3 percent of the company's quarterly game sales despite having only 10 days of impact on the quarterly earnings, raising optimism for the second quarter results. In contrast to the three aforementioned companies, NCSoft and Kakao Games struggled as they did not have any meaningful new titles. NCSoft earned 360.3 billion won in revenue and 5.2 billion won in operating profit to turn black in the first three months of this year. Although the company launched Journey of Monarch, an MMORPG based on NCSoft's flagship IP Lineage, in December last year, the game could not help the firm's ailing figures greatly. NCSoft plans to roll out seven new titles through 2026 including Aion 2 in the second half of this year, vowing to hit 2 trillion won in annual revenue next year. Kakao Games recorded 211.9 billion won in revenue and 12.4 billion in operating loss in the first quarter. Kakao Games will look to the global market this year including the North American and European regions as the company plans to release games with various genres for different platforms, including open-world action MMORPG Chrono Odyssey, online action RPG ArcheAge Chronicles and mobile side-scrolling action PRG Goddess Order.
Korea Herald
13-02-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Nexon tops W4t in annual revenue
Nexon, the publisher of popular games such as Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory, posted record-high annual sales of over 4 trillion won ($2.76 billion) last year, becoming the first Korean gaming company to hit the milestone. The company, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, announced Thursday that its total revenue for the previous year reached 446 billion yen, or 4.01 trillion won, a 5 percent year-over-year increase. Fourth-quarter sales declined by 6 percent to 79.7 billion yen. Despite the overall revenue growth, Nexon reported an operating loss of 1.7 billion yen. The company attributed its record sales to a roughly 10 percent sales increase in its three key franchises — the MMORPGs Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory as well as the soccer video game FC. Together, these titles, along with revenue from services related to its intellectual properties, accounted for 74 percent of Nexon's total sales. Among them, Dungeon & Fighter saw a 53 percent year-over-year increase in sales, driven by the successful launch of its mobile version in China last May. MapleStory, a long-beloved title in Korea, also saw 24 percent growth as its global reach expanded. Nexon introduced localized content and targeted promotions, focusing on penetrating global markets. While continuing to strengthen those thriving flagship franchises, Nexon plans to broaden its product lineup by leveraging its IPs to achieve sustained growth, tapping into revenue from its core game titles. 'Nexon is enhancing strategic research and investment to expand its business through strong IPs such as Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory,' said Nexen CEO Lee Jung-hun. 'We will strive to bring greater joy to our users through both existing franchises and new intellectual property-based games.'
