WEBZEN announced on the 12th that last year's annual sales reached 214.7 billion won, an increase of 9.4% compared to the previous year, while operating profit rose 9.3% to 54.5 billion won. Net profit decreased by 1.4% to 56.7 billion won.
Fourth-quarter sales totaled 56 billion won, a decrease of 20.6% compared to the same period last year, and operating profit fell 17.1% to 15.1 billion won. Net profit decreased by 40.9% to 12.1 billion won.
WEBZEN noted that the success of 'MU Monarch 2', released last August, drove the annual performance increase. It offset the revenue decline of long-term service games, and the overall revenue growth from the 'MU' intellectual property (IP) business and the Metin series contributed to the strong performance.
WEBZEN announced plans to achieve diversification in game services and expand development capabilities by releasing games for which it has secured publishing rights through continuous investment and its own games currently under development. The collectible role-playing game (RPG) 'Terbis', which is being directly developed, is gaining recognition beyond Korea into Japan as well. WEBZEN reported that it received favorable reviews for its game concept, which features a '2D Japanese animation' style, showcased at various gaming exhibitions, including G-STAR.
Since last year, WEBZEN has been preparing multiple new games through strategic investment (SI) in various game development companies, and plans to increase financial investment (FI) this year alongside strategic investment to enhance development capabilities and diversify its business. It has already completed investments in 'GameTogether', which has excellent development capabilities in 2D graphic-based animation production. Initial investments were also implemented in 'GPUN', founded by former developers from SHIFT UP. This year's action RPG 'Dragon Sword' from prominent developer 'Hound 13', for which WEBZEN secured the publishing rights last year, is considered a major game expected to succeed.
WEBZEN Chief Executive Officer Kim Tae-hyung said, "To expand our development capabilities and future growth, we are preparing various games and businesses through both in-house development and external investment, a two-track approach," adding, "This year, we have decided to retire company shares for the first time in two years, and as we are continuing our shareholder return policy based on financial stability, we will continue to make efforts towards the growth of the company's performance and enhancement of shareholder value by all employees."