NCSOFT shares fluctuate amid mixed reviews on new games

By Yoon Sung-won

NCSOFT is drawing mixed reviews over its first mobile game based on the country’s most profitable online game “Lineage” series, according to the industry, Friday.

As the country’s leading online computer game provider, NCSOFT released its first mobile game titled “Lineage: Red Knights” in 12 countries including Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asian regions, Thursday.

When the game was first release here, it was hit hard by negative reviews in some online gaming communities that its graphics, content and in-game dynamics did not meet expectations. On this backdrop, NCSOFT closed at 218,000 won ($186.96) on the Seoul bourse, crashing 9.73 percent from the previous day.

But the company’s shares rebounded a day later as the Red Knights clinched the top perch at both Google’s Play and Apple’s Appstore as of early Friday. On Friday, NCSOFT closed at 242,000 won, jumping 11.01 percent from Thursday.

Analysts said Thursday’s market concerns over the Red Knights were excessive.

“As objective indexes such as ranks and sales performance at mobile application stores have been released, investment sentiment seemed to be encouraged,” NH Investment & Securities analyst Ahn Jae-min said.

“The game is recording sales performance that beats the market expectations and it is too early to evaluate a game’s success,” Samsung Securities analyst Oh Dong-hwan said. “Users will need more than a day to play the game to take part in the game’s key contents such as domination and fortress battle between groups of allied players. For this reason, the sales can be boosted even further on market reviews after Friday.”

As it is based on one of Korea’s oldest and most successful online computer games Lineage, the Red Knights has drawn attention both from gamers and investors. In particular, NCSOFT stressed that the Red Knights will be its first mobile game that will feature the most sought-after in-game contents including a competitive gaming environment between user groups dubbed “lineage.”

Other market expectations are that NCSOFT will bet more on its next mobile game, which is tentatively called “Lineage M,” than the Red Knights. NCSOFT said this game will be a “perfect mobile conversion” of the online computer version of Lineage. Lineage M is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, NCSOFT has suffered negative reviews over its new blockbuster online computer role-playing game “Lineage Eternal” after a closed beta-test opened on Nov. 30.

During the two business days after the beta-test, NCSOFT shares decreased 11.36 percent, which was the biggest drop for the company since Nov. 8, 2012. In the meantime, the company’s market cap also reduced by 660 billion won.

Lineage Eternal had been under development since five years ago as the company’s newest computer online game after “Blade & Soul,” which was released here in June 2012.