NCsoft profits soar

Korean publisher's newest MMOG pushes July-Sept. net income to $40 million on revenue of $142 million.

Posted on Nov 9, 2009 - 12:04pm EST

The massively multiplayer online role-playing market hasn't seen many new entrants this year. However, of those that have debuted this year, NCsoft scored perhaps the biggest hit with Aion: Tower of Eternity. Shortly before the supernal-themed MMOG's launch in September, NCsoft said that Aion had garnered more than 400,000 preorders in North America, making it the "biggest MMO release of the year."

As part of its third-quarter earnings announcement today, NCsoft said that Aion has now sold more than 500,000 units in North America and 470,000 copies in Europe. Aion's popularity propelled NCsoft to another quarter of triple-digit year-over-year gains. The Korean publisher reported revenues today that were up 112 percent to KRW166 billion ($142 million). Net income during the July-September period soared to KRW46.9 billion ($40 million), a whopping 836 percent year-over-year rise.

NCsoft's home market again constituted the vast bulk of the MMOG publisher's sales, as Korea accounted for 48 percent of revenues, with North America, Japan, Europe, and Taiwan following. Aion contributed to 52 percent of the publisher's sales across the territories, with Lineage 2 falling as the second-most lucrative at 24 percent or revenues. The original Lineage followed with 16 percent, while City of Heroes/Villains and Guild Wars came in at respective 4 and 3 percents.