Nexon, Netmarble, NCsoft, and other big gaming companies reported a large difference in earnings for the first quarter of this year.
Nexon recaptured the lead position while Netmarble, which had the highest number of annual sales last year, showed a relatively poor performance.
NCsoft is expected to increase its competitive edge by recording operating profits that are almost three times that of Netmarble, and as a result, competition between the three companies in the entry industry will become intensify in the future.
Netmarble posted 2.26 billion dollars in annual sales last year, but it only made 471.2 million dollars in sales and 69.3 million dollars in operating profits in the first quarter of this year. Its sales decreased by 26.2 percent compared to the first half of last year and operating profits dropped by more than half to a total of 62.9 percent.
On the other hand, Nexon ranked first in sales with operating profits of 836.4 million dollars in sales and 507.5 million dollars in operating profit, the highest performance ever. NCsoft made 444.1 million dollars and 190.5 million dollars in sales and operating profit during the first quarter of this year. Compared to the same period last year, sales jumped 98.4 percent and operating profit also jumped 570 percent.
The reason for the positive performance is due to the growth of Lineage M, analysts say. However, its sales have decreased by 35 percent compared to the third quarter of last year. The combined sales of the three companies amounted to a total of 1.75 billion dollars, the second highest after the 1.798 billion dollars in the third quarter of last year.
Also notable was the increase in overseas sales. Nexon and Netmarblerecorded 78.4 and 68 percent, respectively, of their sales in overseas markets in the first quarter of this year. Nexon’s overseas sales surpassed 655.6 million dollars in one year, while Netmarble’s overseas sales increased nearly 20 percent in nine months.
However, NCsoft is expected to take some time to become an exporting company, as 71 percent of its sales are generated in South Korea. In the future, the three gaming companies are planning to expand existing games while continuing their growth by launching new games and targeting foreign markets.
Nexon is expected to continue its upward trend with new PC games such as ‘FIFA Online 4’, ‘Mabinogi Mobile’, and ‘El Sword M’. Netmarble plans to take the lead in the second quarter with ‘Fishing Strike’, ‘Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’, and ‘Iron Throne’. NCsoft will focus on new mobile products using popular IP (Intellectual property Rights) such as Lineage, Blade & Soul, and Aion.
