Netmarble eyes surplus in H2 with success of new games

South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp. is eyeing profits in the second half as its latest games gain in popularity, after posting deficits for six straight quarters.

Netmarble’s role-playing game (RPG) Seven Knights Idle Adventure, launched on Sept. 6, ranks No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the top-grossing games list on iPhone’s App Store and Google Play in Korea on Monday, according to digital industry research firm Sensor Tower.

The Seven Knights series released its first online action game in Korea in 2014. It has now launched five games, which have posted a combined 60 million downloads worldwide since then. Propelled by its success, a Japanese TV animation based on the game’s intellectual property was released in 2021.

The latest release focuses on low specs and easy playability to attract users. It doesn’t require heavy spending, either; the main paid services are a monthly subscription that removes ads and hero collection.

It is an idle game, meaning it runs by itself with minimal or no player interaction even when a person is not online. This game genre is typically less profitable than massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) like the global mega-hit Lineage. It is unusual for an idle game to enter the top-grossing game charts, said an industry source.

The new game’s success follows Netmarble’s Tower of God: New World launched in July. That title ranked as the fourth-highest grossing game on Google Play in Korea after its release and is currently in the top 30s in that market.

The game is based on a webtoon of the same title on Korean portal giant Naver Corp. Players enjoy the game as a webtoon-based animation featuring various characters and a simple combat system.

“Tower of God is performing above our expectations in terms of both sales and retention in Korea. We will strengthen our marketing in the West and Japan,” said Netmarble Chief Executive Kwon Young-sik at a second-quarter earnings conference last month.

Netmarble has led the Korean gaming market since the early 2010s with its successful series Modoo Marble, Seven Knights and Lineage. But the company has been in the red since the first quarter of 2022 due to delays in new game releases.

It will unveil new games this year, including an MMORPG based on the popular Korean drama Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramun, and webtoon-based Solo Leveling: Arise. The gaming giant will also begin Chinese operations of its hit adventure RPG the Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross and Second Country: Cross Worlds later this year.
 
Local brokerage firms expect the company’s third-quarter earnings to reflect the success of Tower of God and Seven Knights. Netmarble’s operating loss will decline to 11.8 billion won ($8.9 million) in the third quarter from 37.2 billion won in the second quarter, Samsung Securities Co. Senior Analyst Oh Dong-hwan said in a report last week.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.