If 2025 was a year of turnaround, this year will be when full-fledged high growth begins.
Hong Won-jun, NCSOFT chief financial officer (CFO), said on the 10th in the company's earnings conference call, "Our goal for full-year revenue is to reach the upper end of the previously presented 2 trillion to 2.5 trillion won." Having swung to a profit last year, NCSOFT laid out a blueprint to drive revenue growth this year through three pillars: expanding revenue from its own intellectual property (IP), including the flagship Lineage series; new game IP; and a full-scale push into the new business of mobile casual.
NCSOFT escaped the red last year on the back of the success of AION2. Operating profit came to 16.1 billion won, turning around from an operating loss of 109.2 billion won a year earlier. Revenue fell 5% on-year to 1.5069 trillion won. Revenue has declined for three consecutive years since 2023. Net profit jumped 269% to 347.4 billion won as proceeds from the sale of NCS Tower 1 were reflected.
By region, annual revenue from the Korea market was 928.3 billion won, accounting for 61.6% of the total. It was followed by Asia with 277.5 billion won (18.4%) and North America/Europe with 124.7 billion won (8.3%). Royalty revenue was 176.4 billion won. Overseas and royalty revenue accounted for 38% of total revenue.
By platform, annual revenue from mobile games was 794.4 billion won, down 14% from a year earlier. PC online games recorded 430.9 billion won, up 23%, as the existing Lineage series and new AION2 delivered results.
Fourth-quarter revenue was tallied at 404.2 billion won, down 1% from a year earlier. Operating profit was 3.2 billion won in the same period, swinging to a profit from an operating loss of 129.5 billion won a year earlier. Net loss was 1.5 billion won, narrowing from 7.6 billion won a year ago.
In particular, fourth-quarter PC online game revenue reached 168.2 billion won, the highest quarterly figure in seven years since 2017, as AION2, launched on Nov. 19 last year, gained popularity. That was up 92% from the previous quarter and 80% from a year earlier. According to NCSOFT, AION2's fourth-quarter revenue last year was 94.1 billion won, and as some revenue was deferred, the booked revenue came to 77.4 billion won.
Co-CEO Park Byung-moo said, "From the 1st to the 10th of last month, AION2 generated 70 billion won in revenue," adding, "Given that the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) genre typically sees revenue drop sharply right after launch, AION2 is maintaining revenue quite well."
Park said, "Through 2025 was the preparation phase for growth—streamlining expense and organization and improving game quality—and with the successful launch of AION2 in the fourth quarter last year, we began to regain user trust," adding, "Starting this year, we will build revenue on three pillars: MMORPG, new genres such as shooters and subculture, and mobile casual."
NCSOFT plans to roll out AION2, first launched in Korea and Taiwan, to the global market in the third quarter this year, and to introduce new titles such as Cinder City, Time Takers, and Limit Zero Breakers to the global market as early as March through second-quarter closed beta tests (CBT). The company will also accelerate IP expansion by unveiling spinoff games from existing IP and broadening launch regions.
CFO Hong Won-jun said, "Lihuhu, the Vietnam casual game company acquired late last year, and domestic Springcomes will be reflected in results starting in the first quarter, and the merger and acquisition (M&A) under way in Europe is in the final stages, so we expect it to be reflected in results from the second quarter," adding, "We will solidify our legacy IP lineup by launching five spinoff titles, including Lineage Classic, which is set for full release on the 11th, Guild Wars Reforge Mobile, and AION Mobile being developed by Chinese game company Shengqu Games."
For the mobile casual business, the company plans to expand with the goal of accounting for one-third of total revenue next year. Park said, "In mobile casual games, regardless of whether you hold powerful IP, the key to winning or losing is how well you analyze data and leverage it," adding, "So we swiftly acquired a company that owns a data platform for mobile casual games, and based on that, we started by building the platform."
He added, "We are in the final stages of acquiring a mobile casual company of meaningful scale and expect to announce the result soon."
Starting next year, the company also plans to unveil new IP across various genres such as roguelike and first-person shooter (FPS), including both in-house developed and publishing titles like Horizon Steel Frontiers, Bonfire, Project AT, and Project R.
CEO Park said, "We expect to see continued growth each quarter, with operating margin improving accordingly," emphasizing, "Until now, NCSOFT has been a typical content company whose share price rose or fell depending on the success or failure of specific games, but going forward we will become a company with steadily growing revenue and profit that can be forecast."