Kakao Games' loss widened sharply in the second quarter of this year as revenue from existing games fell and there was a gap in new releases.
Kakao Games said on the 5th that under consolidation it posted revenue of 75 billion won and an operating loss of 23 billion won in the second quarter of this year. Compared with the same period a year earlier, revenue fell 35%, and the operating loss expanded 167%.
By institutional sector, PC online game revenue was 22.3 billion won, down 20% from the previous quarter. However, it rose 51% from the same period last year. Mobile game revenue was about 52.7 billion won, down about 48% year over year and about 4% quarter over quarter.
The company said the second-quarter results were affected by the stabilization at a lower level of revenue from existing live titles and the gap in new releases.
Kakao Games plans to reorganize its overall business and strengthen its mid- to long-term growth base under a new management system in the third quarter. It will begin pre-registration for the K-fantasy mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "World of Dokkaebi" in Aug. and plans to launch it in Oct..
The strategy adventure role-playing game (RPG) "Dungeon Arise" is planned for release within the year, and the open-world zombie survival simulator "God Save Birmingham" is slated for early next year. The new MMORPG "Odin Q: Valkyrie's Call" will also debut early next year.
It is also moving to expand its game portfolio. Kakao Games has secured global publishing rights for the PC MMORPG "ArcheAge S: Strait of Freedom" and the pixel-art collection action RPG "Guardian Maiden." In addition, it will work with The Grim Entertainment to pursue game development and services using popular comic and webtoon intellectual property (IP).
Chief Executive Lee Si-woo of Kakao Games said, "We will focus on introducing high-quality games with a high likelihood of success in the global market and solidify our fundamentals for sustained growth," adding, "We will sequentially unveil new titles reorganized around market competitiveness and maintain transparent communication with users and shareholders."