Nexon, the maker of huge online games like MapleStory, reported strong second-quarter revenue growth thanks to good demand for its free-to-play online PC and mobile games in Asia.
Revenues were $379.7 million in the second quarter, up 60 percent from $237 million a year ago. Net income was $117.8 million, up 54 percent from $76 million a year earlier. Mobile revenue was $75.6 million, up 40-fold from $1.87 million a year ago. Operating income grew 21 percent.
“We are pleased with our solid second quarter results, which exceeded the high end of our outlook. The strong performance of new and existing titles in China and Korea drove significant growth and Korea returned to a year-over-year growth trajectory,” said Seungwoo Choi, president and chief executive of Nexon, in a statement. “We also recently announced strategic investments in two best-in-class U.S.-based developers, enhancing Nexon’s Western reach and scale. With a robust portfolio of top-ranking PC games across major markets and an extended mobile presence in Japan and abroad, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the continued industry momentum towards free-to-play across all platforms.”
In the second quarter, China revenues grew by 44 percent over a year ago, while Korea returned to year-over-year growth with revenues up 38 percent. On a constant currency basis, China revenue was up 15 percent while Korea was up 9 percent. FIFA Online 3, which Nexon jointly publishes with Electronic Arts, and Sudden Attack continued their strong performance in those markets. Dungeon Fighter Online also exceeded expectations in China, while mobile game KartRider Rush Plus topped 10 million downloads in China.
But the 10th anniversary of MapleStory did not perform as well as expected in Korea. Mobile game Fantasy Runners for Kakao topped 1 million downloads in one week in Korea.
In Japan, revenues were up 233 percent from a year ago thanks to mobile acquisitions. Top titles included Three Kingdoms Guild Battle. Gloops’ first native app, Euro Club Team Soccer Best Eleven+ was ranked in the top ten grossing apps in Apple’s App Store in Japan.
North American revenue was down 5 percent from a year ago. Nexon invested in two U.S. studios, Brian Reynolds SecretNewCo and Rumble Entertainment.