NCSOFT said it expects this year's revenue to surpass 2.5 trillion won, the top end of its previous outlook, helped by the success of "Lineage Classic" and growth in its mobile casual business. It added that starting in the second half and through next year, it will roll out about 10 titles in the global market, combining in-house projects and third-party publishing games, including the global version of "AION2," "Horizon Steel Frontiers," and "Cinder City."
◇ Surge in results on the success of Lineage Classic… 1.3 trillion won in first-half revenue
Park Byung-mu, NCSOFT co-CEO, said on the second-quarter earnings call on Aug. 11, "We expected 2.5 trillion won as the (revenue) upper end this year, but it looks like we will significantly exceed that."
NCSOFT said consolidated second-quarter revenue was 770.5 billion won, with operating profit of 173.9 billion won. Those figures rose 101% and 1,053%, respectively, from a year earlier. Cumulative first-half revenue was about 1.3 trillion won, roughly 90% of last year's annual revenue.
The success of Lineage Classic contributed greatly to the improved results. PC game revenue in the second quarter reached 343.8 billion won, a quarterly record, with Lineage Classic accounting for 183.5 billion won. Although 140 days have passed since launch, monthly active users (MAU) have remained solid, the company said. Park said, "We expect Lineage Classic to have a long life cycle like Lineage M."
◇ Mobile casual revenue share rises to 22%
The mobile casual business, being fostered as a new growth pillar, also supported results. With JustPlay fully reflected in consolidation from the second quarter, mobile casual revenue reached 169.7 billion won. That is about 22% of total revenue.
NCSOFT projected that growth in the mobile casual business will continue into the second half. Anel Cheman, head of the Mobile Casual Center, said JustPlay is growing by improving live-ops and spending user acquisition (UA) expense efficiently. JustPlay's MAU increased about 70% from a year earlier.
Starting in the second half, NCSOFT plans to directly link the software development kits (SDKs) of studios it has secured, such as Liuhu and SpringComms, to JustPlay so those studios can publish games through JustPlay. In 2027, it will open the platform to allow participation by external third-party studios.
◇ Ten new titles by next year… simultaneous global launches to ramp up
NCSOFT is also speeding up new releases. The four major games being prepared from the second half into next year are the global version of AION2, Horizon Steel Frontiers, Cinder City, and Guild Wars 3. Adding in-house titles and third-party publishing games brings the pipeline to around 10 launches.
Park said, "Around 10 games will be released steadily across the second half of this year and next year," adding, "All games released from now on are planned for simultaneous global launches." The company has strengthened its publishing organization by hiring talent from global publishers and plans to expand its market next year to South America and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), following Southeast Asia and China.
Development of "Guild Wars 3" has entered full-scale production. Starting this year, the project shifted to a mass production phase with significant staffing and resources, and alpha and beta tests are expected next year. With the "Guild Wars" franchise community and user base reaching about 30 million, the company is highly confident in Guild Wars 3's prospects. It will launch simultaneously on the ArenaNet proprietary platform, Steam, and consoles, and will also bring the game to the Asian market using NCSOFT's "PURPLE," so it expects a larger revenue contribution than at the time of the Guild Wars 2 launch.
In addition to regional expansion of existing IP and growth in the mobile casual business, NCSOFT expects the impact of new releases starting in the second half to be reflected sequentially. Park said, "We are also preparing three to four unannounced blockbuster games targeting release in 2028–2029," adding, "We believe we can achieve our 5 trillion won revenue goal for 2030 sooner rather than later."