Mixed Fortunes for Gaming Industry in Q3... Krafton and Netmarble Shine

[Financial News] As major Korean game companies announce their Q3 results for this year, their performances are diverging depending on the success of their hit titles.
According to the industry on the 9th, Nexon, NCSoft, Wemade, and Com2uS will begin releasing their Q3 earnings on the 11th, followed by Pearl Abyss and NEOWIZ on the 12th. Krafton and Netmarble, which announced their results earlier, reported solid growth with consolidated Q3 sales of 870.6 billion won and operating profit of 348.6 billion won for Krafton, and sales of 696 billion won and operating profit of 90.9 billion won for Netmarble. Krafton surpassed 1 trillion won in cumulative operating profit for the first time in its history within just three quarters, driven by the sustained popularity of its PUBG: Battlegrounds IP and its expansion in the Indian market. Netmarble benefited from the success of new releases such as Seven Knights Re:BIRTH and VAMPIR. Both companies will continue to promote their new titles at G-STAR 2025, Korea’s largest game exhibition, which opens in Busan on the 13th.
On the other hand, companies without new or hit titles are expected to post lackluster results. According to FnGuide, NCSoft’s consolidated Q3 sales are projected to decrease by 8.44% year-on-year to 368 billion won, with an operating loss of 8.9 billion won, marking a turnaround to the red. The absence of new releases in Q3, increased development costs for AION 2, which is nearing completion, and declining sales of the existing Lineage series have all contributed to this outlook. However, the soon-to-be-launched AION 2 is drawing attention as a potential turning point for the company’s earnings. NCSoft will participate as the main sponsor at G-STAR 2025, setting up a booth with 300 booths and collaborating with Nvidia to equip demo PCs with high-performance GeForce RTX 5080 GPUs.
Nexon, listed on the Japanese stock market, forecasted its Q3 sales to be between 116.6 and 127.1 billion yen (approximately 1.0915 to 1.1902 trillion won, based on 100 yen = 936.3 won), a 6–14% decrease year-on-year. Operating profit is expected to fall by 20–35% to between 32.7 and 41.2 billion yen (306.5 to 385.3 billion won). Pearl Abyss, which is preparing to launch Crimson Desert, the sequel to Black Desert Online early next year, is expected to post sales of 79.7 billion won and an operating loss of 12.5 billion won due to increased marketing expenses, resulting in a turnaround to losses compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, Shift Up, which enjoyed global success with Goddess of Victory: Nikke and saw positive effects from the release of the PC version and Downloadable Content (DLC) for Stellar Blade, is projected to see Q3 sales rise by 25.4% to 72.5 billion won and operating profit increase by 29.4% to 46 billion won. Additionally, Com2uS is expected to post stable results with sales of 186.1 billion won and operating profit of 2.7 billion won, while NEOWIZ is projected to achieve sales of 106.1 billion won and operating profit of 17.1 billion won, thanks to the success of Lies of P DLC. NHN is also forecast to return to profitability with Q3 sales of 635.2 billion won and operating profit of 26.8 billion won.

wongood@fnnews.com Joo Won-gyu Reporter