NC Establishes Co-CEO System... "Leveraging Expertise to Leap as a Global Company"

CEO Kim Taek-jin Focuses on Strengthening Game Competitiveness
Appointee Park Byung-moo to Discover New Growth Engines through Investment and M&A

Kim Taek-jin, CEO, and Park Byung-moo, the appointed co-CEO, who will jointly lead NCSoft, stated, "We will create synergy as one team with the shared goal of advancing into a global company."

The executives expressed these aspirations at a media briefing held on the 20th to mark the launch of the co-CEO system.

In his greeting, CEO Kim said, "The co-CEO system was introduced to ensure sustainable growth, discover new growth engines, and leap forward as a global company," adding, "We will focus on maximizing each other's expertise to create synergy in achieving our common goals."

Kim said he would concentrate on NCSoft's core areas of game development and business as CEO and CCO (Chief Creative Officer). He identified his top priorities as developing new games that provide fresh enjoyment, developing games targeting overseas markets and strengthening cooperation with global companies, and innovating game development using AI technology.

The highest priority among these is developing new games that offer fresh enjoyment. Kim stated, "Leveraging NCSoft's development strengths, we are working on various genres such as 'MMO shooting,' 'MMO sandbox,' and 'MMORTS.' This year, we are challenging new ideas in diverse genres with the brawl-style action game 'Battlecrush' and the collection RPG 'Project BSS,' both set for global release." He added, "The next-generation MMORPG 'Aion 2' is being developed to provide an even higher level of gameplay experience."

Appointed co-CEO Park is focusing on consolidating internal capabilities for NCSoft's sustainable growth. Park presented four key themes for strengthening management fundamentals and system building: enhancing management efficiency to strengthen core competitiveness, establishing a data-driven system so all members can accurately understand situations, building a globalization foundation based on internalizing experience, and promoting investment and M&A for IP acquisition and new growth engines.

Park said, "We will enhance management efficiency that complements each other across all departments to strengthen core competitiveness," adding, "Efficiency focused solely on numbers will be eliminated as it undermines the company's competitiveness and foundation."

During the Q&A session, many questions were raised about plans to overcome last year's significantly worsened performance and unstable market conditions.

In response to a reporter's question about the poor performance of new releases and live services and their causes, CEO Kim said, "'Blade & Soul 2' and 'Throne and Liberty' underperformed domestically, and trust in NCSoft was greatly damaged. However, both games are in the growth phase aiming for success in the global market."

He added, "The market competition has intensified to the point where 'Lineage-like' is considered a genre, and copyright infringement is indeed serious, but this also proves that MMORPGs remain robust with a strong customer base."

Regarding government regulations on probability-based items, appointed co-CEO Park said, "We have been thoroughly preparing for mandatory disclosure of probability-based item information by forming a company-wide task force (TF) several months ago, and we are aiming to operate a system in the first half of the year that allows automatic external verification of game probability information."

On the issue of selling the professional baseball team NC Dinos, which some shareholders have raised, Park denied the claim. He said, "Since last year, we have collected opinions from employees regarding the baseball team and have independently and carefully reviewed the matter. Considering new game marketing, recruitment of talented personnel, and the synergy effect between NCSoft as a content company and the baseball team, we have tentatively concluded to focus on cost efficiency rather than selling."

Park also announced active investment and mergers and acquisitions. He said, "Our top priority is investment and M&A in game companies," adding, "Candidates include domestic and international companies that can expand NCSoft's game portfolio and contribute to market expansion. We are actively reviewing these opportunities."

However, he noted, "M&A requires significant funds, so very careful consideration is necessary. We have formed an internal TF to review potential companies so that we can swiftly execute when the right opportunity arises."

Regarding the timing of specific announcements, he said, "Successful M&A requires intense analysis and considerable patience. We will disclose details when concrete actions are taken."

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