Steadfast 'Lineage'... NCSoft Signals Bright Future for 2 Trillion Won Club (Comprehensive)

Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The Lineage brothers remained strong. NCSoft succeeded in 'holding its ground' with third-quarter sales and operating profit this year, signaling a green light for achieving annual sales of 2 trillion KRW.

NCSoft Expected to Surpass 2 Trillion KRW in Annual Sales

On the 16th, NCSoft announced third-quarter sales of 585.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 217.7 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 47% and 69%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Compared to the previous quarter, sales rose by 9% and operating profit by 4%. Cumulative sales through the third quarter reached 1.8549 trillion KRW. If this trend continues, surpassing 2 trillion KRW in annual sales is anticipated.

Mobile gaming showed remarkable performance. Third-quarter mobile game sales reached 389.6 billion KRW. 'Lineage M' generated 245.2 billion KRW, and 'Lineage 2M' earned 144.5 billion KRW. As of this date, NCSoft's 'Lineage brothers (Lineage M and Lineage 2M)' hold the first and second places in Google’s revenue rankings, respectively. Although 'Lineage 2M' sales decreased compared to the previous quarter, 'Lineage M' boosted overall revenue. Thanks to the third-anniversary update of 'Lineage M,' sales increased by 53% quarter-over-quarter. Lee Jang-wook, NCSoft IR Director (Executive Vice President), stated during the conference call, "Lineage M's third-quarter sales achieved the highest record since the first quarter of 2018."

For PC online games, sales were 49.9 billion KRW for 'Lineage,' 26.3 billion KRW for 'Lineage 2,' 8.5 billion KRW for 'Aion,' 17.2 billion KRW for 'Blade & Soul,' and 18.8 billion KRW for 'Guild Wars 2.' 'Lineage' sales rose 46% compared to the previous quarter, and 'Guild Wars 2' sales increased by 20%. By region, sales were 477.1 billion KRW in Korea, 27.4 billion KRW in North America and Europe, 13.9 billion KRW in Japan, and 7.9 billion KRW in Taiwan, with royalty revenue reaching 58.8 billion KRW.

Besides the Lineage brothers, NCSoft is actively working on creating the next hit titles. They expect strong performance across various game genres beyond MMORPGs. On the 10th, they released the console and PC platform music game 'Fuser' in North America and Europe.

NCSoft plans to sequentially launch 'Trickster M,' 'Blade & Soul 2 (B&S2),' 'Aion 2,' and 'Project TL' domestically and internationally. Executive Vice President Lee said, "B&S2, which will represent NCSoft in 2021, is planned for release in the first quarter, and Project TL is progressing toward a domestic PC version release next year." NCSoft also plans to accelerate its overseas expansion. 'Lineage 2M' will begin its release in Taiwan in the first quarter of next year and expand its release regions. 'B&S2' will also be introduced to overseas markets soon.

NCSoft expressed confidence in its long-studied artificial intelligence (AI) business. They plan to apply AI not only in games and finance but also in various other fields. Regarding the launch of an AI-based simple investment securities firm with KB Securities, Executive Vice President Lee explained, "Our entry into the financial business was made possible because our AI technology is recognized as the best in Korea even by experts, opening a window of opportunity. We consider it very important that our AI technology is not limited to games but opens many business opportunities."

Strong Performance by the 3N

The 3N of the gaming industry (NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble) demonstrated their robustness by posting results exceeding market expectations in the third quarter. Nexon recorded third-quarter sales of 887.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 308.5 billion KRW, increases of 52% and 13% year-over-year, respectively. Nexon achieved its highest-ever quarterly performance. With hits like the new title 'The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon' and the first anniversary of 'V4,' Nexon is close to joining the 3 trillion KRW club. Netmarble also succeeded in holding its ground with third-quarter sales of 642.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 87.4 billion KRW, increases of 3.6% year-over-year. Netmarble's overseas sales accounted for 75% (478.7 billion KRW), marking the highest record for two consecutive quarters. Netmarble is also expected to easily achieve annual sales of 2 trillion KRW.

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