The third-quarter earnings reports of South Korea’s major gaming companies, which had hoped to bounce back by launching large-scale new titles this year, are projected to disappoint. Industry analysts expect sluggish results from most of the top five gaming firms—NCSOFT, NEXON, Netmarble, KRAFTON, and Kakao Games—except for NEXON and KRAFTON, which have successfully expanded into global markets. Some experts suggest the gaming industry is gradually consolidating into a two-player race dominated by NEXON and KRAFTON.
According to the consensus from financial market tracker FnGuide on Oct. 23, Kakao Games’ operating profit in the third quarter of this year is expected to amount to only 400 million won (about $289,750), a 98.2% decrease from the same period last year, barely avoiding a deficit. This is due to the poor performance of “Stormgate,” a new real-time strategy (RTS) simulation game that the company ambitiously released last August. According to the global game distribution platform “Steam,” the number of concurrent users of “Stormgate,” which was 4,854 on the day of release, has now decreased to the 140 range.
Netmarble, which achieved record-high quarterly sales with “Solo Leveling: ARISE” in the second quarter, is now experiencing a slowdown in growth. The company is projected to post an operating profit of 66.1 billion won ($47.88 million) in the third quarter, a significant improvement compared to the same period last year. However, this represents a sharp decline from the second quarter, where profits reached 111.2 billion won ($80.63 million)—almost double the current figure. The decrease is attributed to the waning influence of second-quarter releases such as “RAVEN 2″ and “Arthdal Chronicles: Three Factions,” coupled with the limited impact of new third-quarter titles like “The Seven Deadly Sins.”
