[Public Notice+] Mr. Blue Q1 Operating Profit Up 211.7% YoY... "Webtoon and Game Growth Together"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Mr. Blue, an online comic and webtoon specialist company, achieved strong performance through the simultaneous growth of its core webtoon business and its subsidiary's mobile games.

Mr. Blue announced on the 12th that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter increased by 211.7% year-on-year to 2.8 billion KRW. During the same period, sales rose 107.7% to 16.5 billion KRW.

The online comic and webtoon business continued its steady growth from last year, and the mobile MMORPG "EOS Red," developed and serviced by its subsidiary Blue Potion Games, also performed well, significantly contributing to the strong first-quarter results.

In the online comic business segment, the increase in subscription payment amounts, allowing unlimited access to online comics including Mr. Blue’s representative genre of martial arts comics, is interpreted as the main reason for the sales increase. Despite doubling the subscription price in November last year, the number of subscription users remained steady, resulting in a significant rise in the average monthly subscription payment amount.

"EOS Red," which has been on a hit streak since its release in August last year, maintains a high ranking on the Google Play Store and shows steady revenue flow. Following a major update on the 9th of last month that introduced a new continent and new characters, "EOS Red" reached the 10th position in the Google Play Store’s top grossing chart just four days after the update, raising expectations for increased sales in the second quarter due to the update effect.

Mr. Cho Seungjin, CEO of Mr. Blue, stated, “The first quarter saw an increase in indoor activities due to the impact of COVID-19, which also led to a rise in consumption of online comic and webtoon content.” He added, “In the second quarter, ‘EOS Red’ is scheduled to enter the Taiwan market, and overseas sales in the gaming business are expected to increase significantly.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.