Netmarble Games and Com2uS have posted record earnings in the second quarter on the back of strong performances at home and abroad. The record performances by the local mobile game companies come as they continue to expand their presence in the game market compared with the dwindling PC online game sector. Netmarble Games, the nation’s leading mobile game firm, said Tuesday it posted 52 billion won in operating profit in the second quarter, a 363.6 percent jump from a year ago.
Its sales stood at 243.8 billion won, up 102.3 percent year-on-year. The company said the growth was largely attributable to the steady performance of its existing mobile games such as “Everyone’s Marble,” “Seven Knights” and “Monster Taming,” and new titles “Raven” in Korea and “Marvel Future Fight” worldwide. The sales growth also helped Netmarble Games consolidate its position as the second-largest game enterprise in Korea, surpassing the previous holder of the No.2 spot, Korea online game firm NCSOFT, which posted 217.5 billion won in sales in the second quarter. In the first quarter, Netmarble Games overtook NCSOFT in sales for the first time, largely thanks to the performance of its mobile games. NCSOFT, on the contrary, has generated the majority of its earnings from PC online games without a hit mobile game.
In the latter half of this year, Netmarble Games said it will launch Raven in the Chinese market while accelerating business in North America through Social Gaming Network, a U.S. mobile game firm it acquired in July. In the coming quarters, the company also pledged to unveil new mobile games it has developed under its partnership with NCSOFT.
Com2uS said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it posted 40.3 billion won in profit, up 133 percent from a year earlier. Its sales reached 108.3 billion won, up 152 percent in the same period. It was the first time for Com2uS to record over 100 billion won in quarterly sales in its history. The company said its growth was largely thanks to its performance in the global market. It had 88.3 billion won in sales overseas, 83 percent of its total. It said aggressive local marketing in Japan, Europe and the United States and in new markets was effective in improving sales. The company said its mobile role-playing game “Summoners War” has expanded its popularity in the global market, contributing to the record quarterly earnings.
Launched in June last year, Summoners War has been rolled out at Apple Appstores and Google Play markets around the globe. It was best placed among mobile role-playing games in 94 countries. Nexon, the nation’s largest game company, also said it posted 91.7 billion won in sales in the mobile game sector, up 20 percent year-on-year. This is about 24 percent of its 385.4 billion won sales in the second quarter, it said. Nexon said it will roll out major mobile titles including strategy game “Dominations” and “Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao Chronicle” and “Dungeon and Fighter Mobile” in the latter half of the year, aiming to expand its presence in the mobile sector.
Source: Korean Times
