Steadfast 'Lineage'... NC Achieves Record-Breaking 2 Trillion Won in Sales for the First Time (Comprehensive)

Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The Lineage brothers remained steadfast. NCSoft surpassed 2 trillion KRW in annual sales for the first time in history, driven by the success of the Lineage brothers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

NCSoft Joins the '2 Trillion Club' for the First Time

On the 5th, NCSoft announced that its sales for last year reached 2.4162 trillion KRW, with an operating profit of 824.8 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 42% and 72% respectively compared to the previous year. Both sales and operating profit are record highs.

In the fourth quarter of last year, the company posted sales of 561.3 billion KRW and an operating profit of 156.7 billion KRW. Sales increased by 5% and operating profit by 11% year-on-year.

NCSoft's strong performance was led by the 'Lineage brothers.' The company's mobile games recorded annual sales of 1.6784 trillion KRW. Among these, Lineage M generated 828.7 billion KRW, and Lineage 2M generated 849.6 billion KRW. Annual mobile game sales grew 72% year-on-year due to the launch of Lineage 2M.

PC online game sales amounted to 459.2 billion KRW. The breakdown was as follows: Lineage 175.7 billion KRW, Lineage 2 104.5 billion KRW, Aion 45.6 billion KRW, Blade & Soul 72.2 billion KRW, and Guild Wars 2 61.2 billion KRW.

Aion's fourth-quarter sales increased by 133% year-on-year thanks to the launch of its classic server.

By region, Korea recorded 2.013 trillion KRW, North America and Europe 94.4 billion KRW, Japan 54.8 billion KRW, and Taiwan 35.9 billion KRW. Royalty revenue was 218 billion KRW.

With domestic sales accounting for the majority, NCSoft plans to expand its overseas achievements this year. In the first half of the year, it will release new mobile games Blade & Soul 2 and Trickster M domestically, and will service Lineage 2M in Taiwan and Japan.

Lee Jang-wook, NCSoft's IR director, said in a conference call, "This year, we will begin overseas expansion starting with Taiwan and Japan," adding, "In the long term, many games will enter Western markets and establish NCSoft as a global company."

NCSoft also announced plans to release multiple console games in the future. Lee predicted, "By around 2022, beyond this year, you will feel that several products are being released rapidly."

CEO Taekjin to Receive 22.5 Billion KRW

Meanwhile, NCSoft announced a cash dividend of 8,550 KRW per common share as a year-end dividend for last year. The total amount is approximately 176.1936 billion KRW, with the payment date set for April 23.

This year's dividend per share increased by 3,330 KRW compared to the previous year. Kim Taek-jin, the largest shareholder of NCSoft holding 2,628,000 shares (11.97% stake), will receive about 22.4694 billion KRW in cash dividends.

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