Nexon beat market expectations in the second quarter this year on the success of its flagship intellectual property (IP) "MapleStory" and the new title "ARC Raiders." On a half-year basis, it posted record results.
Nexon said on the 13th that second-quarter revenue rose 2% on-year to 121.1 billion yen (about 1.139 trillion won). Operating profit came to 31.3 billion yen (about 294.3 billion won), down 17% in the same period. Net profit jumped 77% to 29.6 billion yen (about 278.8 billion won).
Second-quarter revenue, operating profit and net profit all exceeded market expectations.
Cumulative revenue for the first half of the year (January–June) was 273.3 billion yen (about 2.5603 trillion won), and operating profit was 89.4 billion yen (837.9 billion won), up 17% and 13% on-year, respectively, marking record highs for a half-year.
Following the first quarter, the "MapleStory" franchise also led growth in the second quarter. According to Nexon, the "MapleStory" IP saw franchise-wide revenue in the second quarter rise 63% on-year on the solid performance of the original PC title and the global expansion of "Maple Idle" and "MapleStory Worlds." This is the highest quarterly figure on record.
PC "MapleStory" saw domestic and Western-region revenue each increase 7% on-year thanks to the June summer update. The mobile game "Maple Idle" posted strong results in key overseas markets including North America, Europe and Southeast Asia on the back of a large-scale half-anniversary update carried out in late April. The sandbox creation platform "MapleStory Worlds" also posted a 123% on-year increase in second-quarter revenue in Korea and Taiwan.
"ARC Raiders," released in October last year, also contributed to second-quarter results. "ARC Raiders" sold more than 16.3 million copies within nine months of release, establishing itself as Nexon's next-generation blockbuster IP.
Buoyed by the success of the "MapleStory" franchise and "ARC Raiders," Nexon's cumulative first-half overseas revenue and PC/console platform revenue each rose 44% and 27% on-year, respectively, setting record half-year results.
Starting in the second half, Nexon plans to expand its flagship IP and continue growth by introducing new titles it develops and publishes in a variety of genres.
The mobile version of "DAVE THE DIVER," which launched first in China early this year, will expand its service regions to the global market, including Korea, in September based on its local performance. In the fourth quarter, the company will begin service of "Mabinogi Mobile" in Japan and also unveil the mobile idle role-playing game (RPG) "DUNGEON & FIGHTER Idle."
The publishing lineup also includes the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Temppal: Overgeared" and the fantasy world RPG "Azure Promilia," both slated for release within the year.
In addition, Nexon plans to expand its growth drivers by launching various self-developed titles across genres, including the 2D action RPG "DUNGEON & FIGHTER Classic," the action RPG "Vindictus: Defying Fate," and the multiplayer PvPvE zombie survival game "Nakon: LAST PARADISE."
Lee Jeong-heon, head of Nexon's Japan unit, said, "We delivered solid results in the second quarter thanks to the strong growth of the MapleStory franchise and the steady contribution from ARC Raiders," and added, "Starting in the second half, we will diversify our pipeline with new titles across genres and expansions of our steady-selling IP, and strengthen our growth drivers through large-scale updates to major titles."
Meanwhile, as part of its shareholder return policy, Nexon plans to pay a special dividend of 324 billion yen (about 3 trillion won) at the end of September.