Korean game developers report higher operating profits in Q2

Major game developers reported an increase in operating profits for the second quarter of 2024.

Nexon office in Bundang District of Seongnam, Gyeonggi [NEWS1]

Major game developers reported an increase in operating profits for the second quarter of 2024.

Nexon saw an operating profit of 74.3 billion yen ($505 million) for the April-June period, a 64 percent increase year over year, thanks to the success of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China.

The mobile game, released in China on May 21, topped Apple's Appstore's Top Grossing game chart for 11 consecutive weeks.

The game publisher also delivered a record-high second-quarter revenue of 122.5 billion yen, an increase of 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

Nexon’s second-quarter earnings exceeded the game developer's initial forecasts. The company initially expected an operating profit of 46.5 to 56.8 billion yen .

MapleStory, Nexon’s other popular franchise, also saw a 9 percent year-over-year revenue growth.

Nexon believes the popularity of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile will continue through the third quarter. It also hopes The First Descendant, the company’s latest free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in July, will contribute.

The company expected MapleStory revenues to decrease year over year “due to challenging competition” with its third quarter performance last year.

Nexon has eight games in its pipeline, including MapleStory N and Mabinogi Mobile, but their release periods have not been revealed.

Netmarble reported an operating profit of 111.2 billion won ($81 million) for the April-Jine period, higher than the market consensus of 70.8 billion won compiled by market tracker FnGuide.

The company recorded an operating loss of 37 billion won in the second quarter of last year.

Netmarble’s revenue for the second quarter also increased by 29.6 percent year on year to 782.1 billion won, the highest quarterly revenue for the game developer.

The record revenue was achieved by newly launched game titles in the second quarter, including Solo Leveling: Arise, an action RPG game based on the hit webtoon “Solo Leveling.”

Solo Leveling: Arise accounted for 20 percent of the developer’s revenue, followed by Marvel Contest of Champions at 9 percent. Arthdal Chronicles: Three Factions, released in April, accounted for 5 percent of the revenue.

Netmarble plans to release four new titles in the second half of 2024: The Seven Deadly Sins: Idle Adventure, a casual RPG game based on the franchise; King Arthur: Legends Rise, a dark fantasy RPG game using the Unreal Engine 5; RF Online Next and Demis Re:Born.

Game publisher and IT company NHN also reported 28.5 billion won of operating profit for the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 36.3 percent over the same period the previous year.

The result, however, is lower than the market consensus of 29.3 billion won compiled by FnGuide. NHN will release Wooparoo Odyssey Global, a social network game, and Pebble City, a social casino game, by the end of this year. The company will also release Darkest Days, an open-world zombie apocalypse shooter RPG, and Stellar Fantasy in the first quarter of 2025.

Com2us recorded a 1.4 billion won operating profit, higher than the market consensus of 1.3 billion compelled by FnGuide.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]