NCsoft Sees Sales, Profits Down In Q4

Publisher NCsoft has announced its holiday quarter results, with sales down slightly to 89.1 billion Won ($94.3 million), and profits down 45 percent to 10.3 billion Won ($10.9 million), as Tabula Rasa and continued Lineage sales push quarter-over-quarter growth. For its full year ended December 31st, sales were down 3 percent from the previous year to 330 billion Won ($349.1 million) and profits were up 18 percent to 45 billion Won ($47.6 million). The company says Korean still stands as its largest consumer with 59 percent of sales, followed by North America at 17 percent, Europe at 8 percent, Japan at 9 percent, and Taiwan at 3 percent. NCsoft further notes that Korea saw a "strong rebound" of Lineage sales and "resilient" Lineage II sales which gave it an 8 percent increase of sales over the prior year. North America saw a 16 percent fall in sales over the year prior though, despite a boost from Tabula Rasa, as Guild Wars and Lineage II sales fell. Europe sales fell more dramatically at 33 percent from a decrease in Guild Wars sales, as well. Overall, Guild Wars sales have fallen 50 percent over the prior year, though the publisher notes that the fourth quarter of 2006 saw the launch of Guild Wars Nightfall, with no comparable launches in the latest Q4. Guild Wars 2 begins beta testing in late 2008. NCsoft's City of Heroes/Villains franchise saw a slight 2 percent decrease over the year prior. The company notes that it has now acquired the remaining interest in the City of Heroes IP and has hired its full former Cryptic Studios team, and has opened a new Mountain View, CA studio dedicated to boosting IP development. Over the coming year, the company looks to commence with a short open beta test of its next MMO, Aion, and to launch the full game three months after its Korean launch. It also notes it has a "variety of casual online games" coming in 2008 including first person shooter Point Blank, sidescrollers Punch Monster and Dragonica, and rhythm and dance game LoveBeat. Finally, NCsoft says for the full year of 2008 it anticipates sales will rise six to 15 percent to between 350 billion Won and 380 billion Won ($370.3 million to $402 million) on continued strong sales of Lineage, Lineage II and its casual titles.