PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Nexon Games turned operating profit positive in Q2 2026 after four straight quarterly losses, but the swing was driven by a one-off reversal of stock-based compensation tied to the CEO's forfeited performance award, not by underlying game business improvement.
The KRW 10.65 billion operating profit in Q2 2026 was mainly driven by the reversal of stock compensation expense after the CEO's 2 million performance shares were forfeited; excluding this, the adjusted operating loss actually widened.
Full-year 2025 revenue fell about 30% year over year, with both operating profit and net income swinging to losses, breaking the earnings recovery seen in 2024.
Even summing the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), the owner net loss stands at roughly KRW 51.4 billion, meaning the single profitable quarter has not been enough to flip the cumulative trend.
A Dungeon Fighter idle RPG is under development targeting a Q4 2026 launch, with Project RX, Project DX and Uchi the Wayfarer forming the next wave of the pipeline.
Core IP Blue Archive reclaimed the No. 1 revenue spot in Japan around its fifth service anniversary, and a successor sub-culture title named Pareidolia has been unveiled.
Nexon Games is a Nexon-affiliated developer that operates mobile titles V4, Blue Archive and HIT2, the online PC game Sudden Attack, and the console/PC loot shooter The First Descendant.
The company is pursuing lineup expansion and revenue diversification through new titles such as Dungeon Fighter: Arad and Project DX alongside stable operation of existing games.
Revenue is split into mobile and online segments; on an annualized basis, mobile revenue shrank from KRW 121.6 billion in 2024 to KRW 81.4 billion in 2025, while online revenue fell from KRW 128.6 billion in 2024 to KRW 90.0 billion in 2025 before rebounding to an annualized KRW 96.2 billion based on first-half 2026 results.
In mobile, export revenue continuing to exceed domestic revenue reflects Blue Archive's ongoing contribution from Japan and China. The online segment is still dominated by domestic sales, but export revenue appeared for the first time in the first half of 2026.
Core IP Blue Archive has ranked among the top cumulative revenue earners in Japan's sub-culture game market, building a position alongside competing Korean-origin IPs such as Goddess of Victory: Nikke.
The First Descendant, a loot shooter available on PC, PS5 and Xbox, continues live service through season-based major content updates. In May, the company signed a new development and publishing agreement with Nexon Korea and Neople to build new games using the Dungeon Fighter IP.
Unlike parent Nexon, which runs multiple major franchises, Nexon Games depends on a smaller set of core IPs, making individual title performance a larger swing factor for results.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩38.6B | -₩21.8B | −56.5% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩50.2B | -₩10.5B | −20.9% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩39.3B | -₩23.1B | −58.7% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩41.5B | -₩21.1B | −50.8% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩41.5B | ₩10.7B | 25.7% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩132.4B | ₩5.2B | ₩6B | 3.9% | 2.6% | 37.3% |
| 2023 | ₩193.3B | ₩12B | ₩11.3B | 6.2% | 4.3% | 39.6% |
| 2024 | ₩256.1B | ₩38.7B | ₩31.4B | 15.1% | 10.1% | 55.8% |
| 2025 | ₩179.3B | -₩60.2B | -₩61.8B | −33.6% | −24.3% | 58.7% |
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
In 2024, Nexon Games posted revenue of KRW 256.07 billion, operating profit of KRW 38.73 billion, and owner net income of KRW 31.44 billion, marking a clear earnings recovery from the prior year.
In 2025, however, revenue fell nearly 30% to KRW 179.32 billion, with operating loss of KRW 60.24 billion and owner net loss of KRW 61.82 billion, completely reversing that trend.
Operating cash flow also deteriorated from a net inflow of KRW 66.51 billion in 2024 to a net outflow of KRW 42.65 billion in 2025, showing that cash generation, not just accounting profit, weakened.
On a quarterly basis, the company posted four consecutive quarters of operating losses from Q2 2025 through Q1 2026, with losses of KRW 21.8 billion, KRW 10.48 billion, KRW 23.07 billion, and KRW 21.11 billion.
In Q2 2026, revenue reached KRW 41.45 billion with operating profit of KRW 10.65 billion and net income of KRW 8.65 billion, but reporting attributed this swing mainly to the reversal of stock compensation expense after the CEO's 2 million performance-linked shares were forfeited for failing tenure or performance conditions.
Adjusted operating expenses excluding this stock-compensation effect were reported at roughly KRW 59.8 billion in Q2, slightly higher than the prior quarter, implying an adjusted operating loss of roughly KRW 18.4 billion that actually widened from Q1.
As a result, the owner net loss summed over the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026) reaches roughly KRW 51.4 billion, meaning a single quarter's accounting-driven profit did not reverse the cumulative loss trend.
Taken together, results through the first half of 2026 reflect simultaneous revenue contraction and cost pressure, making it premature to read the Q2 2026 profit rebound as a sign of underlying business improvement.
The domestic mobile game market is in a phase of slowing growth, with major publishers' steady-selling franchises continuing to post solid revenue while smaller developers face growing pressure to deliver hit new titles.
Parent Nexon posted record first-half results in 2026, with the Maple Story franchise's Q2 revenue up 63% year over year and ARC Raiders' global cumulative unit sales surpassing 16.3 million, underscoring a large-IP-driven growth model that contrasts with the situation facing affiliate Nexon Games.
In the sub-culture genre, Blue Archive reached roughly USD 650 million in global cumulative revenue within four years of its Japan launch, demonstrating the competitiveness of Korean-origin IP alongside titles like Goddess of Victory: Nikke, and more recently reclaimed the No.1 revenue spot on Japan's app store around a fifth-anniversary content update.
Still, in Japan's highly competitive sub-culture market, revenue rankings swing with new character and story updates, creating a persistent burden to keep delivering fresh content.
The loot shooter The First Descendant continues live service through season-based updates, but concerns about the sustainability of engagement have been raised after concurrent user counts declined following the initial launch surge.
The Dungeon Fighter IP, a major franchise held by Nexon Korea and Neople, is now being tapped by Nexon Games through a new development and publishing deal, representing a strategy of building on a proven IP asset.
Overall, industry competitive dynamics favor operators with multiple large IPs, leaving Nexon Games in a position where it must respond through the actual commercial performance of its new title pipeline.
The company's disclosed pipeline consists of five titles: the idle RPG Dungeon Fighter Idle (targeting a Q4 2026 launch), Dungeon Fighter: Arad based on the Dungeon Fighter IP, Project DX succeeding the Durango IP, sub-culture title Project RX developed with the Blue Archive team (unveiled under the name Pareidolia), and the period-set action-adventure Uchi the Wayfarer.
Of these, only the Dungeon Fighter idle RPG has an explicitly stated target launch within this year, while the others remain without a confirmed release date. The Dungeon Fighter IP agreement signed with Nexon Korea and Neople in May is expected to underpin monetization of this lineup.
Among existing live games, The First Descendant rolled out its Season 4 "The Great Clash" update on August 20, concluding the story arc against the Vulgus leader Karel and introducing a new "Mega Dungeon" content, with a further update bringing new Descendant "Ultimate Hailey" and content "Cradle of Evolution" scheduled for September 17.
Now that the Blue Archive successor has been named Pareidolia, further details on its release timing, genre and platform are likely to be disclosed in stages. Management has stated a dual focus on strengthening the long-term competitiveness of live games while concentrating development resources on new titles.
However, with the release timing of most new titles still unconfirmed, near-term results are likely to hinge on how well existing games defend their revenue base.
Nexon Games has recorded an owner net loss both for full-year 2025 and on a trailing four-quarter basis, placing it in a range where conventional price-to-earnings comparisons are difficult to apply.
Its price-to-book ratio differs slightly depending on the calculation method, but under both approaches the shares trade above net asset value, implying some premium over book value. The company currently pays no dividend, so there is no dividend-yield metric to compare against peers.
Looking at the multi-year earnings path, profit gradually recovered from 2022 through 2024, swung back to a loss in 2025, and then posted a one-off-driven profit in Q2 2026, reflecting a highly volatile trajectory.
This earnings volatility is likely to make the market particularly sensitive to how new-title performance and the durability of existing IP revenue evolve going forward.
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
In May, the company signed a new development and publishing agreement with Nexon Korea and Neople to build games on the Dungeon Fighter IP, securing a revenue opportunity based on a proven major franchise.
The lineup includes Dungeon Fighter: Arad and an idle-RPG Dungeon Fighter title, with the latter targeting a Q4 2026 launch. This could help the company diversify away from its current reliance on a small number of core IPs.
Blue Archive reclaimed the No.1 revenue spot on Japan's app store around a major update marking its fifth service anniversary, its 13th time reaching the top since launch. It had already reached roughly USD 650 million in global cumulative revenue within four years of launch, reaffirming long-term staying power.
A successor sub-culture title named Pareidolia, developed with the same team, has also been unveiled, opening further IP expansion potential.
Despite the 2025 annual loss, equity stood at KRW 254.87 billion with a debt ratio of 58.7%, a level that does not suggest an excessive financial burden relative to the game industry.
Investment capacity for new title development does not appear to have been immediately impaired, which could support the pursuit of the multi-title pipeline.
The Q2 2026 swing to an operating profit of KRW 10.65 billion was mainly attributed by reporting to the reversal of stock compensation expense after the CEO's 2 million performance shares were forfeited for failing tenure or performance conditions.
Excluding this effect, the adjusted operating loss is estimated to have actually widened from the prior quarter, making it difficult to characterize this as an improvement in the core game business.
Full-year 2025 revenue fell about 30% to KRW 179.32 billion, with both operating profit and net income swinging to losses, and operating cash flow deteriorating to a net outflow of KRW 42.65 billion.
This is attributed to a combination of slowing mobile game market growth and strong performance from major publishers' flagship titles, which weakened the revenue defense of existing titles.
Of the five disclosed new titles, only the Dungeon Fighter idle RPG has a stated target launch within the year, while Project RX, Project DX, Dungeon Fighter: Arad and Uchi the Wayfarer remain without a confirmed release date.
Analysts have previously flagged the gap in new title releases combined with declining revenue from existing games as a factor weighing on investor confidence.
Operating cash flow swung to a net outflow of KRW 42.65 billion in 2025, and the trailing four-quarter owner net loss stands at roughly KRW 51.4 billion; continued losses could pressure the company's ability to fund investment. That said, the loss magnitude relative to the equity base does not yet suggest an imminent financial crisis.
Multiple new titles still lack confirmed launch dates, and The First Descendant has already faced concerns over declining concurrent users after its initial launch surge, leaving questions about the durability of live-service engagement.
New titles built on the Dungeon Fighter IP could also underperform if they fail to meet the expectations of the franchise's existing fan base.
Amid slowing mobile game market growth, large publishers including parent Nexon are expanding revenue around a small number of major IPs, putting relatively IP-scarce Nexon Games at a competitive disadvantage.
In Japan's sub-culture market, ongoing revenue-ranking competition with rival titles means the pace of content delivery will continue to affect performance.
The First Descendant is scheduled to add new Descendant 'Ultimate Hailey' and content 'Cradle of Evolution,' offering a near-term read on user response and revenue durability.
This is the window to confirm whether the idle-RPG Dungeon Fighter title actually launches and how it initially performs, serving as the first test of the company's Dungeon Fighter IP strategy.
The Q3 consolidated earnings release will show whether the underlying adjusted operating result, stripped of the Q2 one-off effect, is improving or widening again.
Watch for additional reveals on Project RX (Pareidolia) and Uchi the Wayfarer, as well as whether Dungeon Fighter: Arad and Project DX receive a concrete release timeline.
Following its 2024 earnings recovery, Nexon Games experienced a sharp reversal in 2025 with revenue down about 30% and both operating profit and net income swinging to losses, a trend that continued into losses through Q1 2026.
The Q2 2026 return to profit was mainly attributed by reporting to a one-off reversal of stock compensation tied to the CEO's forfeited performance shares, and the trailing four-quarter sum still shows an owner net loss.
On the business side, Blue Archive's sustained long-term popularity and the newly secured Dungeon Fighter IP are positive factors, but the timing of most new titles remains unconfirmed and questions persist about the durability of The First Descendant's user engagement.
Financially, the debt ratio remains managed below 60%, so there is no sign of an immediate financial risk, but the swing to a net cash outflow from operations is a change worth watching.
Key points to monitor going forward include the September update to The First Descendant, the planned Q4 launch of the Dungeon Fighter idle RPG, and whether the underlying, one-off-adjusted earnings trend improves or deteriorates in the Q3 results expected around November. This report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a buy or sell recommendation.
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.