Nexon, NC, Netmarble Achieve Record-Breaking Performance... Annual Revenue Approaching '10 Trillion Won Era'

From the left, Kim Jeong-ju, CEO of NXC; Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft; Bang Jun-hyuk, Chairman of Netmarble and Coway

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Domestic major game companies that enjoyed a special boom due to COVID-19 posted record-breaking earnings. As the gaming industry continues to grow, there is growing anticipation that the combined annual revenue of the 3N (Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble) will soon surpass 10 trillion KRW.

Nexon Becomes Korea's First 3 Trillion KRW Club Member

According to Nexon on the 11th, last year's revenue reached 3.1306 trillion KRW, with an operating profit of 1.1907 trillion KRW. Both revenue and operating profit hit all-time highs, growing 18% year-on-year. This is the first time annual revenue has exceeded 3 trillion KRW in the domestic gaming industry. Last year's Q4 revenue also recorded the highest quarterly figure, with Q4 revenue at 709.2 billion KRW and operating profit at 166.5 billion KRW, representing increases of 35% and 245% respectively compared to the previous year.

Nexon Headquarters

Nexon's strong performance was driven by growth in mobile games. Last year, Nexon's mobile revenue grew 60% year-on-year to 1.0371 trillion KRW. Long-running hit intellectual properties (IPs) such as 'V4', along with last year's releases including 'Baram-ui Nara: Yeon', 'FIFA Mobile', and 'KartRider Rush Plus' contributed to the strong results.

Nexon's domestic performance was also remarkable. Revenue generated in Korea reached 1.7626 trillion KRW, surpassing 1 trillion KRW for the first time. Domestic revenue grew 84% year-on-year, with mobile revenue increasing 164% and PC online revenue rising 54%.

NCSoft Headquarters

NCSoft also surpassed 2 trillion KRW in annual revenue for the first time, powered by the success of the 'Lineage brothers'. NCSoft posted revenue of 2.4162 trillion KRW and operating profit of 824.8 billion KRW last year, representing increases of 42% and 72% respectively compared to the previous year. Both revenue and operating profit were all-time highs. Q4 results showed revenue of 561.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 156.7 billion KRW, up 5% and 11% year-on-year respectively.

NCSoft's strong performance was led by the 'Lineage brothers'. The combined annual revenue of the Lineage titles reached 1.9585 trillion KRW. NCSoft's mobile games generated 1.6784 trillion KRW in annual revenue, with Lineage M accounting for 828.7 billion KRW and Lineage 2M for 849.6 billion KRW. Mobile game revenue grew 72% year-on-year, driven by the launch of Lineage 2M. PC online game revenue was 459.2 billion KRW.

Netmarble posted revenue of 2.4848 trillion KRW and operating profit of 272 billion KRW last year, increases of 14% and 34.2% year-on-year respectively. Revenue was a record high, and operating profit was the highest since 2017. Q4 revenue was 623.9 billion KRW, up 12.4% year-on-year, and operating profit was 82.5 billion KRW, up 61.4%. Notably, overseas revenue accounted for 1.7909 trillion KRW last year, representing 72% of total revenue. This was a 23.3% increase year-on-year, indicating a growing share of global revenue.

Strong performances were driven by titles such as 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross', released in major global markets including North America in March last year, as well as 'Marvel Contest of Champions', 'Lineage 2 Revolution', and 'Blade & Soul Revolution'. Netmarble's November release of 'Seven Knights 2' also maintained strong momentum, ranking among the top three in revenue on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Netmarble New Headquarters 'G Tower'

3N Approaching the 10 Trillion KRW Era

Securities firms predict that if new releases perform well, NCSoft and Netmarble will surpass 3 trillion KRW in revenue this year following Nexon. The 3N, which posted record-breaking results, plan to level up by expanding their businesses this year, including new game launches, entertainment, and subscription economy sectors.

Having broken the 3 trillion KRW barrier, Nexon plans to aggressively invest this year in various areas such as talent acquisition, new development projects, artificial intelligence (AI) research, and business development. Kang Min-hyuk, head of Nexon Communications, stated, "This year, we plan to take a step further as a global top-tier company by leveraging our strengths in live game service operations and introducing innovative development processes."

NCSoft, which has not released new titles since 2019, announced plans to launch multiple new games this year, including 'Blade & Soul 2', 'Trickster M', and 'Pro Baseball H3'. Notably, CEO Kim Taek-jin personally took charge of game development, showing strong determination for the success of new releases. Additionally, last month, NCSoft expanded into entertainment by launching the K-pop entertainment platform 'Universe'.

Netmarble will release major titles this year such as 'Second Country', 'Marvel Future Revolution', and 'Seven Knights Revolution'. Also, having acquired Coway in 2019, Netmarble is preparing a subscription economy model incorporating technology. Kwon Young-sik, CEO of Netmarble, said, "This year marks a meaningful new start at our new headquarters 'G Tower' and will be an opportunity to strengthen our global gaming competitiveness."

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