This photo provided by Kakao Corp. shows its Pangyo office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Games Corp., the gaming unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., said Wednesday it swung to the red last year due to increased spending involving its investment in a local game developer.
Kakao Games logged a net loss of 164.2 billion won (US$130.6 million) on a consolidated basis in 2022, compared with a net profit of 520.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Its operating profit soared 58.8 percent on-year to 177.7 billion won, and sales grew 13.4 percent to a record 1.1 trillion won.
The company attributed the annual loss to its investment in Lionheart Studio Corp. worth 1.2 trillion won last year. Kakao Games is the biggest shareholder of the studio with a combined 55 percent.
Its annual sales hit an all-time high thanks to steady demand for its blockbuster mobile titles “Odin Valhalla Rising” and “Uma Musume Pretty Derby.”
Kakao Games said its upcoming new releases, including mobile RPG games “Eversoul,” “ArcheAge War” and “Ares: Rise of Guardians,” will help maintain growth momentum in 2023.
Shares of Kakao Games fell 0.63 percent to trade at 47,200 won on the secondary Seoul bourse on Wednesday, underperforming the broader tech-savvy KOSDAQ’s 0.93 percent gain.
(Yonhap)
