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By Jun Ji-hye
Nexon, Netmarble and NCSOFT, which have been struggling with faltering bottom lines over the past year, won't be able to bounce back this year unless they create new mega-hit games, according to industry analysts Thursday.
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| Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju |
In its October-December earnings report, Nexon posted 459.4 billion won ($408 million) in sales and a 38.9 billion won operating profit, down 13 percent and 67 percent from a year earlier, respectively.
Netmarble's sales and operating profit during the period was 487.1 billion won and 38 billion won, down 20.9 percent and 59 percent from a year earlier.
NCSOFT faced a similar situation, with an operating profit during the period of 112.6 billion won, down 41 percent from a year earlier.
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| Netmarble Chairman Bang Joon-hyuk |
The firms led the boom in the nation's game industry over the past three to four years with good sales in China, the United States and Southeast Asia.
But their growth has been on hold since last year amid the absence of successful new games.
Previously, Nexon had success with "Dungeon & Fighter" and "Maple Story," while Netmarble's "Lineage 2 Revolution" enjoyed popularity. NCSOFT's "Lineage M" has led the sound performance of the company.
But the firms have released no notable games since.
Hoping for a rebound, the companies are doubling efforts to release new games this year.
Netmarble plans to release a slew of games including "BTS World," a mobile game utilizing the members of K-pop sensation BTS, scheduled for release in the first half of the year.
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| NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin |
Nexon plans to release the large-scale mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Traha," as well as "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile."
During a media showcase in Seoul, Thursday, Nexon said it will officially launch "Traha" on April 18.
"Traha, based on distinctive intellectual property, will offer high-quality graphics and distinctive content to provide gamers with the highest level of game-playing experience," said Park Jae-min, head of Nexon's mobile business division.
For its part, NCSOFT is developing follow-up MMORPG games including "Lineage 2M."
But with the company mentioning a possible delay in releasing "Lineage 2M" during its fourth-quarter earnings announcement, Hwang Seung-taek, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment, said it may take time for NCSOFT to lift its performance.
The improvement in the game firms' performance also depends on a policy in China. Tightening regulations there have made it difficult for the companies to export their products to the world's No.1 game market.
A Netmarble official said during the earnings announcement that the company expects China to resume issuing service permits for foreign games soon.
