NCsoft Q1 Sales Up 9% On Continued Lineage Success

MMO publisher NCsoft has released its first quarter results, showing sales up 9 percent to KRW 84.7 billion ($91.2 million) and profits of KRW 14.1 billion ($15.2 million) on strong continued sales and subscriptions to Lineage and Lineage II. Sales and profits both fell from last quarter, with sales down six percent, and profits declining 24 percent from 2006's Q4. Sales of Lineage and Lineage II made up a respective 38 and 41 percent of the company's sales, followed by Guild Wars at 14 percent, and City of Heroes/City of Villains at seven percent. Korea led Lineage franchise sales at $53.8 million, followed by $13.9 million in sales from North America, $8.7 million in Japan, and $8.4 million from Europe. North American and Europe sales were up year over year by 14 and 102 percent respectively. Looking forward, the company said it plans to launch its full Aion title within the year in Korea following a summer closed beta test. The publisher also plans to release an upgraded version of its PlayNC multi-title platform in May, and bring out both Tabula Rasa (which recently entered closed beta) and the Guild Wars expansion Eye of the North later this year. Said CFO Lee Jae-ho, "Our first quarter sales and operating income rose 9% and 96% respectively. Furthermore, we expect to attain sustainable growth in the second half after releasing a string of new game titles starting with the much anticipated closed beta testing of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa on May 2."