Nexon has released its Q1 2022 financial results, revealing a three per cent increase in group revenue, with considerable gains made in the mobile space with the support of flagship franchises Dungeon&Fighter and FIFA.
Nexon Group revenue reached ¥91 billion, up from ¥88.3 billion in Q1 2021, although the company anticipates a slight decrease for Q2 2022, within a range of ¥81.3 to ¥87.3 billion.
Mobile accounted for ¥23.3 billion of external revenue in Q1 2022, with by far the vast majority coming from Korea (¥21.1 billion) – a year-on-year increase from its 2021 performance (¥22.5 billion, with ¥19.4 billion from Korea).
Football and fighting
Despite the slight decreases predicted for Q2, Nexon expects considerable gains in the mobile space. The report stated: “For mobile, we expect revenue to approximately double year-over-year.
“We anticipate a contribution from Blue Archive and year-over-year growth in EA SPORTS FIFA ONLINE 4 M in addition to a significant contribution from Dungeon&Fighter Mobile, which launched on March 24. We expect these to be partially offset by year-over-year revenue decreases in V4, The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon, and KartRider Rush.”
Although Dungeon&Fighter Mobile was only recently released in Korea in March 2022, Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon, was optimistic about the symbiotic relationship possible with mobile.
In a subsequent investor call, Mahoney commented: “Importantly, Dungeon&Fighter Mobile did not cannibalise our PC game, in either revenues or engagement.
“Rather, the PC experienced as much as a 20 per cent increase in active users since launch of the mobile game. We see this as another proof point, joining MapleStory, that mobile enhances, rather than detracts from our PC business.”
Nexon is far from alone with its bullishness on mobile: Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts have each declared the significance of the market following Q1 2022 financial results.
