'Turnaround to Deficit' Shakes the Game Market for NC... Krafton Joins the '1 Trillion Club'

NCSoft Records First Annual Loss Since 1998
Krafton Surpasses 1 Trillion KRW in Operating Profit
Lineage Stumbles, While PUBG Soars

NCSoft recorded its first annual loss since its listing, breaking the '3N' (Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble) structure. Krafton, which posted record-breaking performance, is forming a strong 'NK' duo with Nexon.

On the 12th, Park Byung-moo, co-CEO of NCSoft, said at the earnings announcement, "Last year, NCSoft received a lot of criticism for declining development capabilities, poor polishing (final touches), and lack of user communication," adding, "We are deeply reflecting on this." Hong Won-jun, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), also apologized to shareholders, saying, "It was a more difficult year than ever."

NCSoft announced that its consolidated operating loss last year was 109.2 billion KRW, turning to a loss compared to the previous year's operating profit of 137.3 billion KRW. This is the first loss recorded since 1998. Revenue decreased by 11.3% year-on-year to 1.5781 trillion KRW, and net profit fell by 56% to 94.1 billion KRW.

Provided by NCSoft

On the other hand, Krafton recorded its highest-ever performance with operating profit exceeding 1 trillion KRW. Last year, consolidated operating profit increased by 54% year-on-year to 1.1825 trillion KRW, and revenue rose by 41.8% to 2.7098 trillion KRW. Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han recently expressed confidence in a conference call, stating, "Our goal is to achieve 7 trillion KRW in sales and double the corporate value within five years."

Nexon, ahead of its earnings announcement, is expected to be the first Korean game company to surpass 4 trillion KRW in annual sales. In its earnings forecast announced in November last year, Nexon projected Q4 sales between 83.8 billion and 94.7 billion JPY (760.5 billion to 859.5 billion KRW).

NCSoft suffered profitability deterioration as the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) market, its main genre, was flooded with Lineage-like games. In particular, the sales of 'Lineage W' dropped to 244.2 billion KRW, about a quarter of its peak in 2022 right after launch. 'Throne and Liberty' (TL) and 'Journey of Monark,' released in the second half of last year, also posted relatively disappointing results. Additionally, one-time costs from large-scale restructuring pushed operating profit into the red.

Nexon and Krafton showed relatively different results. Krafton's 'Battlegrounds' (PUBG) series continued to grow through ongoing updates and enhanced premium content even after switching the PC version to free. In the global market, the Indian version of Battlegrounds, 'Mobile India' (BGMI), set new records for both traffic and sales, leading to a 35.7% increase in total mobile segment revenue compared to the previous year.

Nexon is also expected to see significant revenue growth from its main intellectual properties (IPs) such as 'Dungeon & Fighter,' 'MapleStory,' and 'FC' (formerly FIFA Online and Mobile). 'Dungeon & Fighter Mobile,' launched in the Chinese market, is estimated to have generated sales of 1.5 trillion KRW locally.

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