[Click eStock] "Webzen Reaffirms 'MU' Hit Power... Target Price Up"

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Samsung Securities analyzed that Webzen's recently released game 'MU Archangel' ranked 3rd in domestic sales last week, exceeding expectations and performing well. They also noted that with the upcoming release of new MU titles in China and R2M in Korea in the second half of the year, further stock price increases are possible.

According to Samsung Securities on the 4th, MU Archangel, which was released on Korea's Google Play on the 27th of last month, has gained high popularity among MMORPG users and ranked 3rd in sales as of the previous day. Researcher Donghwan Oh from Samsung Securities stated in the report, "Since it ranks just after Lineage 2M and Lineage M in sales, it is possible to achieve daily sales exceeding 500 million KRW initially," and added, "MU Archangel once again proves the high popularity of the MU intellectual property (IP) in the domestic market, which will increase Webzen's IP value."

In the second half of the year, a new MU IP-based title is also scheduled for release in China. 'MU: Jinhong Jiin' is a mobile MMORPG developed by Cheonma Sigong and published by OurPalm. It obtained the game license last year and conducted a closed beta test (CBT), currently in the final development stage, making a second-half release likely. Researcher Oh explained, "Besides Jinhong Jiin, several other MU IP games are under development, so at least one new title release in the second half is possible," and added, "Since there have been no new MU IP-based titles in China since the release of Spirit War and Dark Archangel in the third quarter of last year, the demand for the IP is very high."

The mobile MMORPG R2M, developed in-house based on the R2 IP, is also planned for release in the third quarter. R2 is a PC MMORPG developed by Pearl Abyss Chairman Daeil Kim in 2006 while working at NHN Games, which achieved annual sales of 20 billion KRW at launch and was highly successful. Researcher Oh said, "Considering that the original game still generates about 10 billion KRW in annual sales even 14 years after its release, R2M also has high potential for success," and predicted, "If R2M succeeds, Webzen's in-house game development capabilities, previously valued only through MU IP, will be re-evaluated."

The target stock price was raised by 19% to 25,000 KRW. Researcher Oh explained, "This reflects the better-than-expected success of MU Archangel and the valuation increase of domestic game companies," adding, "Although the momentum for stock price increases may weaken somewhat since the year's biggest new release, MU Archangel, has already launched, the releases of MU Jinhong Jiin and R2M in the second half remain, and with a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 13.1 times, valuation pressure is low, so further stock price increases are possible."

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