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NCSoft Corp., the South Korean video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, revealed it has achieved a new milestone since the company was established. The company said that it has been 24 years since it released its “Lineage” game franchise in 1998, and it hit $10 billion in sales this year.
Sources in the gaming business said on Sunday that as of September, NCSoft’s cumulative revenue from intellectual properties (IP) of its “Lineage” series has reached a total of KRW14.37 trillion or about $10.74 billion.
As per Pulse News, the mobile version of its “Lineage M” game title that was released in 2019 made the biggest contribution in sales after generating KRW4.84 trillion won in cumulative revenue. The insiders added that the company’s very first “Lineage” earned KRW4.14 trillion while “Lineage 2” made KRW2.28 trillion.
In addition, NCSoft’s three other game titles which include “Lineage W,” “Lineage M,” and “Lineage 2M” have a combined sales total of KRW429.2 billion which was recorded for the third quarter financial results alone. These revenues led to the surprising earnings report of the company in the quarter.
Behind the strong sales in the latest quarter, the video game publisher’s operating profit in Q3 increased by 17% on quarter and 50% on year to KRW144.4 billion on a consolidated basis. This also represents a four percent loss in sales from a quarter ago but gained 21% compared to last year to total KRW604.2 billion. Sales from “Lineage W” made up 33% of the firm’s total revenue.
“Well-made game IP is a cash cow for a long and thus, it is important to develop hit labels that can attract more gamers rather than focusing more on new businesses like blockchain and metaverse,” an industry official stated. “NCSoft’s top priority now is to come up with the next Lineage-like blockbuster.”
Finally, Yonhap News Agency reported that NCSOFT revealed it has plans to release a new title for PC and consoles. The game is called "Throne and Liberty", and the company is targeting the first half of next year for its launch. The company is also developing other genre games, such as role-playing titles and puzzles.
