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Nexon, Krafton extend Q1 earnings lead with game franchises
A promotional image of Krafton's life simulator InZOI / Courtesy of Krafton
By Ko Dong-hwan
Nexon and Krafton led the Korean gaming market in the first quarter in sales and operating profit, respectively, driven by the steady popularity of their flagship titles.
According to Nexon, its sales in the first quarter stood at 1.08 trillion won ($771 million), up 5 percent from a year earlier. Its operating profit reached 395.2 billion won, improving 43 percent during the same period.
Its sales were the highest among Korean game developers. Sales of hit titles including MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter and FC Online spearheaded the overall growth, while new releases including Mabinogi Mobile and The First Berserker: Khazan contributed to the overall sales.
Dungeon & Fighter has seen its monthly active users and purchase users both double after a recent update. MapleStory has seen a 43 percent year-on-year increase in domestic sales and 35 percent in overseas sales. Mabinogi Mobile, released in March, has recorded the highest sales in the App Store and second-highest sales in Google Play.
Visitors to Gamescom 2024 in Cologne, Germany, queue up in front of Nexon's booth for The First Berserker: Khazan, Aug. 21, 2024. Yonhap
Krafton became Korea's most profitable game studio in the first quarter of this year, logging 457.3 billion won in operating profit, up 47.3 percent year-on-year. The revenue reached 874.2 billion won, up 31.3 percent during the same period.
Its flagship PUBG: Battlegrounds and life simulator InZOI led the performance. In March, PUBG's concurrent users reached 1.4 million, while InZOI set a sales record of more than 1 million copies just one week after early access began on March 28. The company said 95 percent of its sales were generated from overseas markets, stoking expectations that it could be a globally successful title following PUBG.
Krafton said it aims to achieve 7 trillion won in annual sales by 2029, pinning its hopes on new pipeline titles such as Dinkum and Subnautica 2.
Meanwhile, long-time game giant Netmarble snapped its losing streak in the first quarter, recording 80.2 billion won in net profit and 49.7 billion won in operating profit. Quarterly sales reached 623.9 billion won.
Along with its flagship Solo Leveling: Arise, new title RF Online Next spearheaded its rebound. Just 10 days into its market release, sales of RF Online Next accounted for 3 percent of the company's total quarterly revenue.
NCSOFT saw its sales and operating profit drop from the previous year during the same period. It posted 360 billion won in sales, down 9 percent year-on-year, and 5.2 billion won in operating profit, down 80 percent during the same period.
Kakao Games extended its losing streak for two straight quarters, posting an operating loss of 12.4 billion won in the first quarter.