Nexon's earnings for the second quarter of this year are projected to exceed expectations, bolstered by a strong performance from its existing games and additional success in China.
When Nexon announced its first quarter earnings in May, the company projected a second quarter revenue of between 821.3 billion and 931.8 billion won, with an operating profit of between 154.2 billion and 246.5 billion won, and a net profit of between 115.2 billion and 185.6 billion won. Although the operating profit was expected to decrease compared to the same period last year, the revenue was anticipated to rise.
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However, industry expectations have now surpassed these figures, thanks to the success of "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile". Since its launch on May 21st in China under the name "Dungeon & Fighter: Origin", the game has maintained the top spot in the Chinese Apple App Store's sales chart, except on about three occasions.
According to Sensor Tower, "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile" was the highest-grossing Korean mobile game globally in the first half of the year. With its monthly revenue performance, the game ranked it 14th worldwide during the same period.
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| Source: Sensor Tower |
In the Chinese App Store, the game garnered about 350 million dollars in revenue for the first half of the year alone, surpassing the total revenue that it generated in Korea over more than two years. In fact, the game’s success in China has been remarkable.
This figure only includes iOS sales, suggesting that the total, including Android sales—an even larger market in China—could be even greater. Local media in China have estimated that the game earned close to 1 trillion won in revenue by the end of the first half of the year.
In addition to "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile", Nexon's mobile MMORPG "HIT2" entered the Japanese market, and the PC MMORPG "War of Prasia" expanded into Taiwan and other Chinese-speaking regions.
The subculture RPG "Blue Archive", soccer game "FC Online", and the PC MMORPG "MapleStory" have also performed steadily. "Blue Archive" notably ranked fifth in overseas revenue among Korean mobile games for the first half of the year.
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Moreover, "Dave the Diver", which won a BAFTA Game Award for its Game Design—the first Korean game to do so—has expanded its platform options by launching a Switch version. By combining these achievements, Nexon's quarterly revenue is poised to exceed 1 trillion won, potentially marking its highest amount of quarterly sales ever.
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Nexon is planning to continue this momentum, led by the looter shooter "The First Descendant". Since its launch on August 2nd, "The First Descendant" has achieved a record of over 260,000 concurrent players and briefly led global sales on the Steam platform. Although its player base and revenue have since declined, it has remained in the Top 10, continuing its strong performance.
The next major release will be the hardcore action RPG "The First Berserker: Khazan", which is set to debut at Gamescom 2024 in Germany. This title reinterprets NEOPLE's signature action gameplay for console formats and marks a significant expansion of the "Dungeon & Fighter Universe".
In addition, "Mabinogi Mobile", in which the unique charm of the "Mabinogi" IP is reimagined, and "ARC Raiders", a third-person PvPvE escape shooter being developed by Embark Studios, are expected to contribute to Nexon’s revenue growth.
김태만 기자 ktman21c@gamevu.co.kr
