Nexon Releases First Quarter 2018 Earnings Report, DFO & MapleStory Still Top Earners

On May 10, 2018 Nexon released their Q1 2018 earnings report. A more digestible Investor Presentation slide deck was also released and is filled with interesting charts and figures. The headline figures show that Nexon had a great quarter: revenues were up 21% year over year, due significantly to the stronger than expected results of Dungeon Fighter Online in China. Net income did even better, doubling from last year to a total of 46.6 billion yen (~$426 mil USD).

As usual, Nexon's primary markets were China and Korea which accounted for 67% and 22% of total revenue respectively. More interestingly, Japan now accounts for a smaller share of total revenue at 3% than North America at 4% or Europe & Others (also 4%).

As far as Nexon's Western lineup is concerned, mobile gaming revenues now make up a significant majority thanks to the acquisition of Pixelberry Studios. Pixelberry Studios is best known for 'Choices: Stories You Play' which is available on the App Store and on Google Play.

PC games revenue in both North America and Europe are down significantly from a year earlier. Will the planned release of MapleStory 2 later this summer be enough to reverse this trend?

The Investor Presentation contains a list of full-time employees per region which shows that the vast majority of Nexon staff is located in Korea. It also shows a remarkable increase in North American staff: from 322 last year to 424 now. That increase is also likely due to the Pixelberry Studios acquisition.

Further Reading: Nexon Q1 2018 Investor Presentation