[Click eStock] "Vespa's New Games Released Sequentially... Success Determines Profitability"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Mirae Asset Securities forecasted that Vespa could recover profitability through fixed cost coverage depending on the success of multiple new games scheduled for release this year.

Vespa's sales in the first quarter of this year were 13.8 billion KRW, a 16.3% decrease compared to the previous year, and it recorded an operating loss of 10.9 billion KRW. Labor costs amounted to 9 billion KRW, which were upfront expenses for new game development. Sangjun Han, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, stated, "Considering platform fees linked to sales, server fees, and advertising expenses, profitability recovery through fixed cost coverage is possible depending on the success of new games."

This year, Vespa plans to sequentially release new games such as Cattopia Rush (June), Time Defenders (Q3), King's Raid Season II (Q4), and Project CA.

Among mobile defense RPG games released in the Japanese market, Arknights is considered a competitor. Arknights' sales in the Japanese region last year are estimated at 100 billion KRW, and except for the launch month of January, the average daily sales on a monthly basis were about 300 million KRW.

The Japanese market has about a 70% share of mobile game distribution through iOS, and Arknights' iOS market ranking was within the top 20 during the first three months after launch, within the top 40 from months 4 to 7, within the top 50 from months 8 to 9, and then ranked around 70 to 80. When Arknights' iOS sales rank was between 70 and 80, the average daily sales amounted to approximately 1.4 billion KRW. The researcher said, "Since games targeting the Japanese market, which performed best this year, are scheduled to be released sequentially, we believe this leads to a valuation approach based on a 12-month forward momentum from new releases."

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