NCSOFT held its regular shareholders' meeting on the 26th at the Pangyo R&D Center in Seongnam, reporting last year's major achievements and this year's business strategy to shareholders.
Co-CEO Park Byeong-mu noted, "Despite the competition in the global gaming market and internal challenges, establishing a foundation for long-term growth is this year's key goal," adding, "We will actively pursue new investments and rights acquisition, focusing on subculture (animation-style) and shooting genres." He also mentioned, "We will form genre-specific clusters through mergers and acquisitions (M&A)."
Park stated that NCSOFT recorded a revenue of 1.5781 trillion won and an operating loss of 109.2 billion won last year, explaining, "The primary reason was expenses arising from the implementation of voluntary retirement, and it is disappointing that some new titles did not meet expectations." He added, "However, having achieved a net profit of 94.1 billion won, we decided on a cash dividend of 1,460 won per share, totaling 28.3 billion won, and we will also proceed with the buyback of shares amounting to 127 billion won in February."
He emphasized, "I believe that the advantages NCSOFT had in the past, producing hits through technological innovation and active user communication, have weakened recently," stating, "This year, we will reclaim the 'One Team NCSOFT' spirit and strengthen our organizational structure by focusing on fundamentals." To achieve this, he mentioned that they are reorganizing existing intellectual properties (IP) while rigorously evaluating the technology and gameplay standards of upcoming titles and publishing projects.
During the Q&A session at the shareholders' meeting, a minority shareholder pointed out, "Isn't it a concern that, as the CEO of a gaming company, you are indifferent to games?" In response, Park refuted, "People say that I don't know about games, but in fact, I spend money on games at a 'tithe' level and enjoy them to the extent that I could be kicked out of my home."
He introduced, "I play all the games developed by the company, and among them, I have been playing two or three for more than 8 to 9 months." He also added, "I often have meals with frontline developers and am considering various ways to expand points of contact with users."
Park stated, "After consistently playing the mobile version of NCSOFT's flagship IP 'Lineage,' I feel that even if competitors release 'Lineage-like' games, they do not reach the original's level of completeness after a few months." He continued, "If we look at Lineage M, 2M, W, and the PC version of Lineage 1 and 2, the daily active user count (DAU) is about 1.5 million, which is actually an increase compared to last year."
Recently, some YouTube channels raised claims that NCSOFT is 'spreading false information' about its games and the company. In response, Park stated, "There are malicious comments and excessive defamation that are difficult to tolerate, so since last year, we have formed a task force for monitoring," while emphasizing, "Ultimately, the most reliable solution is to create games that users can praise. A corporation cannot fight against tens of millions of people; it must prove itself through achievements."
Regarding organizational efficiency, he noted, "We reduced the number of executives by 20%, and around 800 employees have retired, decreasing the headcount from 5,000 to around 3,100." He added, "It was a challenging process, but starting in the second half of the year, we expect to return to the 'original NCSOFT' and lay the groundwork for a new leap." He also mentioned that the sale of the former headquarters in Samsung-dong, Seoul, is currently in progress and that the proceeds from the sale will be used for the construction costs of the RDI center, so it will not be reflected in short-term dividends.
Park emphasized, "As the saying goes, it is darkest before dawn, now is the time for NCSOFT to prepare for a greater leap," stating, "If shareholders continue to have faith and patience, we will do our utmost to repay them across the entire company."