Webzen is shrinking as sluggish performance of new titles overlaps with the legal dispute over "Dragon Sword." With the company still unable to break away from a sales structure centered on the Mu intellectual property (IP), whether results rebound will likely hinge on how new releases perform this year.
According to the electronic disclosure system on the 28th, Webzen's revenue last year was 174 billion won, down 18.8% from a year earlier, and operating profit fell 45.5% to 29.7 billion won, the lowest level since 2017.
Analysts say the main reason for the deteriorating results is the slump in the Mu IP. Webzen has grown on the back of the Mu IP. Starting with "Mu Online," released in 2001, the Mu IP expanded to "Mu Origin" in 2015, "Mu Tempest" in 2017, and "Mu Archangel" in 2020, maintaining popularity in overseas markets such as China. Although there is revenue from other IPs such as R2 and Metin2, sales linked to the Mu IP account for an overwhelming share: 63% in 2023, 70% in 2024, and 63% in 2025.
The problem is that if the Mu IP wavers, overall results inevitably falter. Webzen has tried to improve its sales structure to overcome this. In September last year, it rolled out "R2 ORIGIN" as part of diversification through a new IP. In the same month, it also extended its existing IP by launching "Mu: Pocket Knights."
However, neither game delivered clear box-office results. On top of that, as revenue from Mu IP games also declined, Mu IP sales, which were about 150.8 billion won in 2024, fell to about 109.7 billion won in 2025. R2 IP revenue steadily decreased from 36.8 billion won in 2023 to 20.9 billion won in 2024 and 19.0 billion won in 2025.
Despite the worsening results, a breakthrough for a turnaround has yet to emerge. "Dragon Sword," released in January, drew attention as a vehicle to expand the user base but failed to gain traction. A month into service, a publishing contract dispute with developer Hound13 began. Recently, Hound13 said it would independently push for Steam service in July, escalating the conflict. The two sides are currently pursuing lawsuits and injunctions over publishing rights, and the dispute appears to be dragging on.
To recover performance, new titles based on the Mu or R2 IP are needed, but the industry expects related follow-ups will not launch this year. A Webzen official said, "Based on the performance of our core steady-seller IPs, we are conducting in-house development through our dedicated development subsidiaries and various types of external investments."
Against this backdrop, the industry is focusing on the performance of new IPs as the key variable for a rebound in Webzen's results. This month Webzen officially released the turn-based strategy role-playing game (RPG) "Memories: Forsaken by Light." First unveiled in early access in Oct. 2023 under the name "Lemore," the game has supplemented content for about two years. The official release adds four new characters and is set to support eight languages, including English, Chinese, and French. In the second half of the year, it is also preparing to launch the collection RPG "Tervise."
There are also calls for concrete launch timelines and revenue models for games slated for release next year, such as "Gate of Gates." Lee Jong-won, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, said, "Follow-up pipelines like Gate of Gates and 'Project G' need to go beyond simple unveilings and present actual commercialization timelines and business model (BM) structures."