A Korean investment firm sees Blade and Soul strong in revenue, even compared to Guild Wars 2.
Daewoo Securities regularly publishes assessments and reports on Korean companies. For us MMO players, their assessments on “NCSoft” are particularly interesting. NCSoft is a Korean MMO giant that we in the West also have on our radar. Games like Guild Wars 2, Blade and Soul, WildStar, or Aion belong to them.
Daewoo believes that NCSoft generated revenue with Blade and Soul in Q1 2016, in addition to the perennial favorite Lineage I. They mention “Blade and Soul US” with new revenues of 17 million US dollars.
Blade and Soul is expected to have made about twice as much worldwide in Q1 2016 as the somewhat struggling Guild Wars 2. The two titles were fairly even in 2015, with advantages for B&S. According to Daewoo Securities, Blade & Soul is now lagging significantly behind Guild Wars 2. With the Western launch, the gap continues to widen.
During one of the last financial calls, it had already become apparent: NCSoft was very pleased with Blade and Soul, which is growing year after year. They saw weaknesses in Heart of Thorns, the expansion for GW2.
Outlook for NCSoft is good
For the long-term forecast by Daewoo Securities, important is: Lineage Eternal. However, there is still little to report about the new supposed jewel in NCSoft’s repertoire, as it is all still in beta stage.
In Q3 and Q4, the release of three titles each is expected. These are mainly mobile offshoots of the popular franchises Blade and Soul and Lineage in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Overall, NCSoft is given a good rating. Not only are existing titles growing, but the publisher also has high financial reserves and real estate, valuable office buildings in Seoul.
For the end of 2016, the Hero Brawler r and PC title “Master X Master” is planned. It is also expected to be released in Europe. Daewoo anticipates a success that should make the title roughly as revenue-generating as GW2.
