NCSOFT Corp.’s headquarters in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, is seen in this photo provided by the company. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — NCSOFT Corp., a South Korean gaming giant, said Wednesday it has decided to launch two new companies through a split-off as part of its efforts to increase competitiveness and tackle its management crisis.
NCSOFT made the decision to separate its quality assurance service unit, NCQA, and software developing business unit, NCIDS, into independent companies during an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting held earlier in the day, according to its officials.
Both companies are set to launch in October.
NCSOFT said the split-off is aimed at improving organizational efficiency by decentralizing some functions, and it has no further spin-off plans.
“The new companies will focus on business-to-business operations, leveraging their expertise on technology support,” NCSOFT’s co-CEO Park Byung-moo said in the meeting, adding that the company is considering other reorganization measures.
The split-off is part of the Korean game publisher’s restructuring efforts, led by Park, to overcome the company’s management crisis.
Park, a management specialist, was appointed co-CEO in December as part of the company’s first-ever shift to a dual leadership system, following a period of poor performance.
NCSOFT suffered an earnings shock last year amid lower-than-expected popularity of its new game titles. Its annual operating profit plunged to 137.3 billion won (US$100.9 million), which is less than one-fifth of the corresponding figure for 2020.
The downturn continued this year, with its operating profit decreasing in the first and second quarters on sluggish sales.
(Yonhap)
