Nexon’s Year Up Despite Final Descendant’s Disappointing Quarter

Almost all financial reports I have read about NEXON boast of “record-breaking” numbers, however, this is not the case this time. Their fourth-quarter results were not as high, recording a revenue of about ¥79.7 billion (~$55 million USD), which is a 6% decrease. Nonetheless, the total results of 2024 show an increment by 5% from the previous year, with the income following the same increasing trajectory.

The franchise of Dungeon&Fighter achieved an extraordinary 53% growth, mainly attributed to the launch of its mobile version in China. Similarly, Mabinogi also shows a steady yet slow growth, contrary to expectations.

But the results are inverse for FC and MapleStory, both recording decreases. The latter is witnessing a slump in the popularity of its Korean version even though the global version has increased and currently constitutes about 35% of the total revenue of the franchise.

The First Descendant experiences a significant setback. The adventure-filled game, which recently introduced more hot tubs and bikinis in the game, did not meet the expected revenue marks for the fourth quarter. NEXON attributes this mainly to “a decrease in traffic due to lack of new content.” Whether the introduction of new content can bring players back and retain them, considering the tedious grinds in the game that caused them to leave in the first place, remains questionable. This is a situation to monitor as the game has been losing players since its inception.

Good news for players of The Finals, as it met the expected performance, hence you can breathe out a sigh of relief.

Despite these situations, NEXON, being financially stable, is planning to move ahead with the repurchase of some of its stocks. The company aims to acquire approximately $35 million in stocks by June, followed by an additional purchase of $35 million worth of stocks within a year.