The South Korean headquarters of Nexon Co. in Pangyo south of Seoul (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Nexon Co. dominates the South Korean gaming market in the second quarter, surpassing other major developers such as Netmarble Corp. and NCSOFT Corp.
According to the financial reports of major listed game developers for the second quarter, Nexon was the sole company to exceed its operating profit from the previous year.
Nexon, which is listed on the Japanese stock market, achieved an operating profit of 264 billion won (US$200 million) during the April-June period, marking a 22 percent increase compared to the previous year.
During the first quarter, the company garnered an operating profit of 540.6 billion won, establishing a new quarterly sales record.
Nexon’s success was predominantly driven by the consistent growth of diverse games on both PC and mobile platforms.
Games such as “Maplestory,” “Dungeon & Fighter,” and “FIFA Online 4″ demonstrated exceptional performance for six consecutive quarters.
Additionally, Nexon’s “Wars of Prasia,” which was launched in South Korea in late March, and “Hit 2,” released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau in May, also achieved remarkable success.
Conversely, NCSOFT’s Lineage trilogy on mobile platforms experienced a significant decline in sales, resulting in operating profits plummeting by 71.3 percent compared to the previous year and by 57 percent compared to the first quarter of this year.
As of the second quarter, the sales of “Lineage W,” which exhibited substantial performance from late 2021 to early last year, sharply dropped to a mere 54 percent of its earnings from the previous year.
Sales for “Lineage M” and “Lineage 2M” declined by 9.5 and 35.6 percent, respectively, compared to the April-June period of the previous year.
Netmarble incurred an operating loss of 37.2 billion won in the second quarter of this year, reflecting an expanding deficit gap from the previous year (34.7 billion won) and the preceding quarter (28.2 billion won).
Netmarble’s “Seven Knights Revolution,” released in July of the previous year, faced an unfortunate outcome, and subsequent games failed to contribute significantly to the company’s sales performance.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
