Q1 Revenue: 1.082 trillion KRW; Operating Profit: 395.2 billion KRW…Q2 Expected to Decrease for Both,
Dungeon & Fighter Mobile. (Provided by Nexon),
,
, “(Seoul = News1) Reporter Nayoung Jun = Thanks to the recovery of key intellectual properties (IP) like ‘Dungeon & Fighter’ and ‘MapleStory’, Nexon recorded decent performance in the first quarter of 2025. This is seen as a result of Nexon’s long-established live service capabilities shining through amidst a lackluster trend among many game companies.”,
,
, ‘According to industry sources on the 16th, Nexon’s Q1 revenue fell within the projected range, while the operating profit exceeded expectations. Nexon recorded consolidated earnings of 1.082 trillion KRW in revenue and 395.2 billion KRW in operating profit for the first quarter.’,
,
, “The recovery shown by Nexon’s flagship titles ‘Dungeon & Fighter’ and ‘MapleStory’, along with positive reception for new releases like ‘First Berserker: Kazan’ and ‘Mabinogi Mobile’, contributed to this outcome.”,
,
, ‘However, the Q2 performance outlook is somewhat bleak. According to the guidance presented during Nexon’s Q1 earnings announcement, both revenue and operating profit are expected to significantly decrease compared to the same period last year, with operating profit forecasted to be halved. Hence, this moment is seen as a crucial turning point for gauging Nexon’s future direction.’,
,
, “Interest is centered on whether the recovery of ‘Dungeon & Fighter’ and ‘MapleStory’, which played a significant role in Nexon’s strong performance this quarter, can be sustained.”,
,
, “Since 2019, ‘Dungeon & Fighter (PC)’ had been in decline, but efforts for a rebound continued, leading to successful improvements in metrics this quarter with content updates and a refined localization strategy aimed at enhancing domestic and international user satisfaction.”,
,
, “‘MapleStory’ had experienced a significant drop in sales and metrics due to a fair trade commission fine last year. However, the December winter update received positive reviews, and the hyper-localization strategy targeting global users showed results, indicating a recovery trend.”,
,
, ‘Nonetheless, given that the rebound of these two titles is partly influenced by the low base effects from prolonged underperformance, there are calls for securing additional momentum to turn the rebound into a stable growth trajectory.’,
,
, ‘Although the recovery of Nexon’s key IPs is encouraging, connecting this to a stable growth curve is no easy task given the internal and external conditions.’,
,
, “The prolonging of global uncertainty, increased development costs, investment contractions, and the overall industry slump, as well as ongoing discussions regarding disease codes and tightening regulations globally and domestically, all contribute to the persistent uncertainty surrounding the gaming ecosystem. Also, concerns are raised due to the protraction of Neople’s 2025 wage negotiation, leading to worries about labor-management conflicts.”,
,
, ‘Ultimately, Nexon’s response to external variables and control of internal variables seems key to shaping its medium to long-term growth momentum. Given that many of Nexon’s upcoming releases expand on existing major IPs, maintaining the vitality of the original IPs stably is expected to significantly impact the performance of future releases.’,
,
, “Attention is drawn to whether the recovery displayed by Nexon’s two key franchises this quarter can become a stable support for Nexon’s ‘quantum leap’.\n”]