Game companies, which failed to avoid deteriorating their first-quarter earnings due to the absence of new works and increased costs, are aiming to rebound their earnings with masterpieces in the second half of the year.
NCsoft, whose operating profit fell 80% in the first quarter, presented an aggressive target of up to 1 trillion won in sales next year with only new products.
NCsoft announced in a public announcement on the 14th that it recorded sales of 360.3 billion won and operating profit of 5.2 billion won in the first quarter of 2025.
Revenue fell 9.5% year-on-year, while operating profit fell 79.7%.
It turned into a surplus compared to the previous quarter, when it recorded an operating loss of 129.5 billion won due to a large-scale reorganization in the second half of last year. This is due to a decrease in operating costs as the effect of retirement benefits paid in the previous quarter was reduced.
Mobile game sales fell 4% quarter-on-quarter to 206.3 billion won, while PC online game sales fell 11% quarter-on-quarter to 83.3 billion won.
In particular, sales in the Korean market, which accounts for more than half of sales, recorded 228.3 billion won, down 8% from the previous quarter.
NCsoft expects a number of new works, starting with “Ion 2,” the most anticipated multi-access role-playing game (MMORPG), which will be released in the second half of the year.
NCsoft said in a public announcement that it will be able to expand sales to 2.5 trillion won if the new lineup is developed positively, suggesting a sales target of 2 trillion won in 2026.
Specifically, the goal is to secure sales of 600 billion won to 1 trillion won with new products alone, while earning 1.4 trillion won to 1.5 trillion won with existing legacy IP (intellectual property rights).
NCsoft plans to release “Breakers” and “Time Takers” within this year, which are publishing works that have secured rights through new LLLs and external investments along with Ion 2.
On this day, WeMade announced that it recorded 141.8 billion won in sales and 11.3 billion won in operating losses in the first quarter.
Sales fell 12.1% year-on-year, and operating losses continued, but the deficit improved by 26.3 billion won.
The sales of the game business were 139.4 billion won, up 26% from the previous quarter due to the “Legend of Imir” revenue released in February, but down 8% from the same period last year.
Against the backdrop of the deficit in the first quarter, WeMade explained, “Costs such as labor costs have risen due to the incorporation of the developer’s Mad Engine subsidiary, which was completed at the end of last year, and advertising costs related to new marketing have also increased.”
WeMade will launch a number of new works in the second half of the year. In the third quarter, “Mir M” will be released in the Chinese market, and the global versions of zombie games “Midnight Walkers” and “Legends of Imir” will also be released within this year.
In addition, WeMade said, “We will speed up the WEMIX business, a virtual asset that has recently been delisted for the second time,” adding, “We will successfully serve many high-quality blockchain games in the global market and develop strategies to coexist with WEMIX holders in many ways.”
![Pearl Abyss' next film 'Red Desert' image [Source = Pearl Abyss]](https://zombiegaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/news-pv1202505143636e1548df9481f9616149e77ec216e_P1.jpg)
Pearl Abyss, which serves the game ‘Black Desert’, announced that it recorded 83.7 billion won in sales and 5.2 billion won in operating losses in the first quarter.
Sales fell 2% year-on-year and operating profit turned to a deficit. It is believed to be due to an increase in the cost of developing new works.
Pearl Abyss will put its life and death on the anticipated ‘Red Desert’, which is expected to be released in the fourth quarter. Pearl Abyss is conducting pre-marketing by demonstrating the red desert at global events such as ‘GDC 2025’ in San Francisco in March and ‘Pax East’ in Boston last week.
On this day, Pearl Abyss CEO Huh Jin-young explained in a conference call, “Currently, Red Desert has entered the final stage of its release by proceeding with the QA (Quality Guarantee) stage.”
