NCsoft profits fall in 2008

Korean MMO specialist NCsoft has recorded a fall in both operating profit and net profit for its 2008 fiscal year, though its results for the final quarter of the year were all positive, leading to a strong outlook for 2009.

Fiscal 2008 operating profit fell 15 per cent year-on-year to $30.3m whilst net profit fell 40 per cent to $19.5m. New sales improved, however, climbing five per cent to $248.6m.

More positive, though, were NCsoft’s Q4 results, which saw net profit soar 60 per cent to $3.6m. Operating profit jumped 117 per cent to $3.3m and net sales climbed 26 per cent to reach $71m.

The falls were blamed on the delayed release of Aion: Tower of Eternity and all the associated marketing involved in promoting the title.

The publisher also announced that its upcoming free-to-play sequel Guild Wars 2, which at one stage was due out in late 2008, has been delayed until 2010/2011. No official reason has yet been given

Launched in November, Aion exceeded expectations in a short period on the market,” a company statement explained. This, plus the growth in Lineage series sales in Japan and the foreign exchange rate were the primary reasons for the quarter over quarter sales growth.

We anticipate full scale growth in 2009 based on the successful launch of Aion in Korea and the upcoming launch of the product in territories worldwide.”