PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩1,150 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
NC's revenue base shifted toward PC titles and mobile casual games in the first half of 2026, and the Aion 2 global launch slated for late September stands as the key variable for whether the earnings recovery holds.
Second-quarter 2026 revenue was KRW 770.5bn with operating profit of KRW 173.9bn, lifting the quarterly operating margin above 20%; first-half revenue of KRW 1,327.9bn already equals about 88% of full-year 2025 revenue.
The mix has changed: PC games accounted for nearly half of first-half revenue, while the three mobile Lineage titles shrank sharply as a share of the total.
Lineage Classic alone made up 24% of second-quarter revenue, so single-title concentration remains high.
Mobile casual is a new pillar built through acquisitions, but marketing costs jumped in the second quarter, leaving its profitability unproven.
Aion 2's global release via Steam and Purple, plus the China publishing tie-up, are the checkpoints from the second half onward.
NC is a large game publisher that develops and operates MMORPGs anchored on the Lineage and Aion IPs, and its revenue mix has been reshaping quickly in 2026.
The three mobile Lineage titles (Lineage M, Lineage 2M, Lineage W), which made up 55.4% of total revenue last year, fell to 27.7% in the first half of this year, while PC games rose to 49.9%, or about half of revenue (MyDaily, August 2026).
By platform in the second quarter of 2026, PC game revenue set a quarterly record at KRW 343.8bn, and mobile casual revenue of KRW 169.7bn accounted for 22% of the total. Lineage Classic generated KRW 185.5bn, more than half of PC game revenue and 24% of total second-quarter revenue.
Lineage Classic's booked revenue rose from KRW 83.5bn in the first quarter to KRW 185.5bn in the second, while Aion 2, launched in November 2025, brought in KRW 208.7bn in the first half.
The casual pillar came from acquisitions rather than in-house development: NC successively acquired Indigo Group, SpringComes, JustPlay and MovingEye, with total consideration of about KRW 473.3bn per the half-year report.
Second-quarter revenue by region was 48% Korea, 25% Asia and 27% North America, Europe and other markets, with the overseas share reaching 52% - a fourth straight quarterly increase and the first time it exceeded domestic.
On the margin side, in-house billing matters: Daishin Securities noted in a February 2026 report that platform commission expenses, which sit in cost of revenue, actually declined as in-house billing was introduced for mobile games.
Competitively, NC faces domestic MMORPG developers and publishers for players, and in casual games it competes with global mobile platforms where advertising and user-acquisition spending drive outcomes.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩382.4B | ₩15.1B | 3.9% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩360B | -₩7.5B | −2.1% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩404.2B | ₩3.2B | 0.8% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩557.4B | ₩113.3B | 20.3% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩770.5B | ₩173.9B | 22.6% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩2.6T | ₩559B | ₩436B | 21.7% | 13.6% | 38.7% |
| 2023 | ₩1.8T | ₩137.3B | ₩212.1B | 7.7% | 6.5% | 35.1% |
| 2024 | ₩1.6T | -₩109.2B | ₩94.2B | −6.9% | 3.1% | 29.1% |
| 2025 | ₩1.5T | ₩16.1B | ₩346.7B | 1.1% | 10.3% | 28.6% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04
The multi-year path is a steep decline followed by a rebound. From KRW 2,571.8bn revenue and KRW 559.0bn operating profit in 2022 (21.7% margin), the business shrank to KRW 1,779.8bn revenue and KRW 137.3bn operating profit in 2023 (7.7%), then posted an operating loss of KRW 109.2bn on KRW 1,578.1bn revenue in 2024.
In 2025, revenue slipped further to KRW 1,506.9bn but operating profit turned positive at KRW 16.1bn (1.1% margin).
Owner-attributable net profit of KRW 346.7bn in 2025 sits far above that operating figure, indicating that much of the bottom line came from non-operating items - indeed, the third quarter of 2025 showed KRW 360.0bn revenue and a KRW 7.5bn operating loss alongside KRW 346.7bn of owner-attributable net profit.
The fourth quarter of 2025 hovered near breakeven: KRW 404.2bn revenue, KRW 3.2bn operating profit and a KRW 2.4bn owner-attributable net loss.
The trajectory changed from the first quarter of 2026: revenue KRW 557.4bn and operating profit KRW 113.3bn, with record quarterly PC game revenue of KRW 318.4bn, Aion 2 at KRW 136.8bn, Lineage Classic at KRW 83.5bn and mobile casual at KRW 35.5bn.
The second quarter of 2026 delivered KRW 770.5bn revenue and KRW 173.9bn operating profit, an operating margin in the 22% range; first-half revenue of KRW 1,327.9bn and operating profit of KRW 287.1bn already far exceed full-year 2025.
Costs must be read alongside: second-quarter operating expenses rose 62% year on year to KRW 596.6bn, with KRW 132.0bn of the KRW 163.1bn marketing spend attributable to mobile casual, and labor costs of KRW 260.0bn including incentives booked in advance.
The balance sheet is light, with a 28.6% debt-to-equity ratio at end-2025, but 2025 operating cash flow of KRW 162.0bn remains well below the KRW 736.0bn of 2022, pointing to an early-stage recovery.
Korean game stocks move with new-title cycles, and expectations built ahead of launch are often unwound on release day - on 19 November 2025, the day Aion 2 launched, the share price fell sharply, and industry commentary attributed it to the sector's tendency for expectation-driven selling at launch.
China is reopening. Lineage 2M began service in China on 24 June 2026 with Tencent as publisher. A new Aion mobile title received an import license in July 2026, and Lineage M is in discussions with a local publisher on market entry.
For Aion 2, Shengqu Games is pursuing Chinese publishing; it opened the Chinese official site and revealed the local service name on 30 July, with the service schedule to be announced in stages.
Global distribution is broadening from mobile toward PC: the global build of Aion 2 is PC-only via Steam and Purple, with regional servers for North America, South America, Europe and Japan and support for ten languages.
The casual market, driven by advertising and user acquisition, is a different competitive arena - JustPlay posted revenue of KRW 248.0bn last year, with 70% generated in North America.
Sector capital allocation is also shifting: 2026 cash dividends included KRW 99.6bn at Krafton, KRW 71.8bn at Netmarble, KRW 22.3bn at NCSOFT and KRW 20.3bn at Webzen.
On regulation and platforms, Hana Securities said in an April 2026 report that a reduction in domestic Google Store fees at the end of 2026 would benefit NC given its legacy IP base.
Management's annual target is explicit. At the February 2026 results briefing, Co-CEO Park Byung-moo reaffirmed guidance of KRW 2.0-2.5tn in 2026 revenue and said the upper end of KRW 2.5tn now looks likely.
The nearest event is Aion 2's global service - the company plans to launch Aion 2 on Steam on 30 September, followed by new titles such as Horizon Steel Frontiers and Cinder City (Digital Post, August 2026).
On the 11 August 2026 earnings call, Park said high growth in mobile casual would continue through the second half and into 2027, that more than ten new IPs would launch starting with Aion 2 global, that roughly four major titles are in the pipeline, and that Horizon Steel Frontiers, Cinder City and a Guild Wars 3 early-access presale should be feasible in 2027.
The lineup was showcased at Gamescom 2026 in August with Aion 2, Cinder City and Project Bonfire.
Lifecycle management of existing titles also matters: the company said Lineage Classic's monthly active users remain solid, that its development team views the title as still early in its lifecycle, and that it hopes for a long cycle similar to Lineage M.
There is a counterweight - Aion 2, launched in the fourth quarter of 2025, saw its early-launch effect fade, with second-quarter revenue of KRW 71.9bn, down 47% quarter on quarter. China remains at the partnership-announcement stage, with no service date disclosed.
Second-half results therefore hinge on the pace of domestic revenue normalization, how fast global and casual revenue substitute for it, and the scale of marketing outlays.
The profit cycle has swung so much in a short period that valuation is hard to read.
The company moved from an operating loss in 2024 to a small profit in 2025, and quarterly operating margins recovered above 20% in the first half of 2026, but whether the 20%-plus margin of 2022 is structurally repeatable is still being tested.
Any earnings multiple should be read with the knowledge that the last four quarters of net profit include a large non-operating gain from the third quarter of 2025, which makes multiples differ from those based on operating profit alone.
The shares trade above book value per share, and the asset side now reflects both a low debt-to-equity ratio at end-2025 and enlarged intangibles and goodwill from acquisitions.
On dividends, the company has long returned about 30% of consolidated net profit as cash dividends and has stated it will keep the same payout ratio under its 2025-2027 mid-term policy, so the dividend scales with earnings, yet the yield itself is low relative to using dividends as a primary rationale.
As for target prices, analyst Ahn Jae-min at NH Investment & Securities presented a target of KRW 330,000 in a 6 April 2026 report, and Hana Securities maintained a Buy rating and a KRW 320,000 target in a 7 April 2026 report - these are the views of those brokerages.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04
Dependence on mobile Lineage has fallen while PC and casual have become new pillars. In the first half, the three mobile Lineage titles fell to 27.7% of revenue while PC games took 49.9%.
In the second quarter, 52% of revenue came from overseas, exceeding domestic for the first time, with the overseas share up for four consecutive quarters. Less concentration by region and platform spreads out the drivers of revenue volatility.
The event calendar is dense with disclosed dates. Starting with the Aion 2 Steam launch on 30 September, titles such as Horizon Steel Frontiers and Cinder City are scheduled. Management said more than ten new IPs would launch beginning with Aion 2 global, alongside regional expansion of existing games.
In China, Shengqu Games is pursuing Aion 2 publishing and has opened a local site and revealed the service name.
Revenue growth flowed through to profit: KRW 113.3bn operating profit on KRW 557.4bn revenue in the first quarter of 2026, and KRW 173.9bn on KRW 770.5bn in the second. Daishin Securities noted in a February 2026 report that platform commissions declined as in-house billing was adopted.
Financially, a 28.6% debt-to-equity ratio at end-2025 supports capacity for new-title investment and marketing. If revenue-linked cost ratios keep falling, there is room for further operating-margin improvement.
With Lineage Classic at 24% of second-quarter revenue, commentators note that any wobble in that figure feeds straight through to company results. Aion 2's second-quarter revenue fell 47% quarter on quarter to KRW 71.9bn.
MMORPG revenue typically peaks early and then normalizes downward, so how quickly new titles offset declines in existing ones becomes a quarterly checkpoint.
Second-quarter marketing costs rose 598% year on year to KRW 163.1bn, of which KRW 132.0bn was in mobile casual. Advertising-driven casual businesses tie revenue to user-acquisition spending, so rapid top-line growth does not automatically mean profit contribution.
Industry observers said whether the casual business can generate stable profits while absorbing heavy marketing spend will determine how durable the transformation is.
Monetization and operations have repeatedly drawn criticism. Right after Aion 2's launch, controversy over its monetization model prompted an emergency livestream in which the company pledged to reflect feedback.
In Lineage Classic, an exploit in the payment system allowed unlimited item generation, and handling of refunds was criticized as an operations failure. Global launches face different player expectations and review dynamics than Korea, so early sentiment can shape the revenue curve.
The 2026 improvement leans heavily on Aion 2, Lineage Classic and newly consolidated casual subsidiaries. An industry source said this year's gains owed more to PC game hits and the consolidation of acquired casual businesses than to any rebound in mobile Lineage. If traffic or spending metrics at a specific title slow faster than expected, quarterly swings could widen.
The half-year report reflects acquisitions totaling about KRW 473.3bn: Indigo Group KRW 136.2bn, SpringComes KRW 29.6bn, JustPlay KRW 303.3bn and MovingEye KRW 4.1bn.
Intangible assets consequently rose from KRW 110.6bn to KRW 528.7bn with goodwill at KRW 406.7bn, and the profitability of the acquired businesses was flagged as a task. Should those businesses underperform plans, impairment of intangibles and goodwill remains an accounting variable.
China depends on licenses and the local publisher's schedule. For Aion 2, only the statement that service details will be announced in stages has been disclosed.
Analysis notes that as the overseas revenue share climbs to 52%, exposure to region-specific regulation and currency swings rises with it, and that the balance between North America/Europe and Asia bears watching.
Domestically, rules and public sentiment around probabilistic items and monetization can affect live-service costs.
After the Aion 2 Steam launch flagged for 30 September, watch Steam concurrency, user reviews and regional server stability. With domestic revenue normalizing, whether global revenue substitutes for it is the key variable for results from the third quarter onward.
Third-quarter 2026 results will show whether marketing spend normalizes, how much profit the mobile casual segment contributes relative to its revenue, and the quarterly revenue trends for Lineage Classic and Aion 2. With second-quarter marketing costs at KRW 163.1bn, the cost path is decisive for operating margin.
This is the point to check for concrete test and launch schedules for Cinder City and Project Bonfire, unveiled at Gamescom 2026, and progress against annual guidance. Whether management's remark about reaching the top end of the KRW 2.0-2.5tn 2026 revenue target is borne out in reported figures is the crux.
Full-year 2026 results will come with the dividend decision. The policy of paying roughly 30% of consolidated net profit as cash dividends is maintained in the 2025-2027 mid-term plan, so the dividend pool scales with earnings. The company has said it is watching policy direction regarding treasury share cancellation under the revised Commercial Act.
Watch for firm dates on Horizon Steel Frontiers, Cinder City and the Guild Wars 3 early-access presale that management cited, along with disclosure of the Aion 2 China service schedule. China is currently at the stage of a signed partnership and a revealed local service name, with details to follow in stages.
NC's recent results are better described as a change in revenue composition than a simple rebound.
After moving from a KRW 109.2bn operating loss in 2024 to KRW 16.1bn of operating profit in 2025, profit scaled quickly with KRW 113.3bn on KRW 557.4bn revenue in the first quarter of 2026 and KRW 173.9bn on KRW 770.5bn in the second, while first-half revenue reached about 88% of full-year 2025.
Still, Lineage Classic alone accounted for 24% of second-quarter revenue and Aion 2's domestic revenue fell 47% quarter on quarter in the second quarter, so durability depends on how fast new titles and regional expansion offset those declines.
On costs, the fact that KRW 132.0bn of the KRW 163.1bn second-quarter marketing spend went to mobile casual means top-line growth and profit contribution must be assessed separately.
On the asset side, intangibles and goodwill expanded materially through acquisitions, leaving the profitability of those businesses as an open task. The nearest checkpoints are the Aion 2 Steam launch set for 30 September and the following third-quarter results, while the China service schedule has yet to be disclosed. This report is for information purposes and contains no buy or sell opinion and no target price.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.