The Korean publisher NCSoft has released the quarterly figures for Q2 2019 for the MMORPGs Aion, Guild Wars 2 and Blade and Soul that play a role here in the West. A mobile version of Guild Wars 2 is under discussion – but nothing is finalized. NCSoft also seems to be considering more games for PS4 or Xbox One.
Where do the figures come from? NCSoft has released the quarterly figures for Q2 from April to June 2019.
It was a rather quiet quarter, during which not much happened with most MMORPGs that are relevant to us in Europe. However, a lot was going on with the big Korean games around Lineage.
“Our MMORPGs” stable in the short term, declining in the long term
Where do “our” MMORPGs stand? NCSoft has three MMORPGs that have been released here in the West and play a role:
- Aion is virtually unchanged at the lowest level of NCSoft’s games, since WildStar is dead. The MMORPG with wings has risen slightly compared to last quarter. Over the year, however, it is lacking significantly.
- Blade & Soul is also stable – here they are still waiting for the promised engine upgrade. Blade & Soul is consistently trending downward in small steps. The great times are over for the time being.
- The figures for Guild Wars 2 are stable, although slightly weaker than last quarter, but at almost the same level. There is a shortfall of about 500 million Won – which is approximately 373,000 Euros. Overall, Guild Wars 2 generated about 11.8 million Euros in the 3 months. ArenaNet had to lay off over 100 employees in February 2019. It seemed that the studio needed to realign itself.
Cash cows for NCSoft are Lineage and Lineage M
What is the highlight for NCSoft? The music clearly played in the last quarter in the home country of South Korea.
There is a kind of “retro wave”, as the 21-year-old MMORPG, Lineage, with an increase of 142%, is the big winner. Lineage received a remastered update and NCSoft switched it to free-to-play. This gave NCSoft the boost this quarter.
The mobile division for NCSoft is also doing wonderfully – Lineage M continues to boom. The game has brought NCSoft a sustainable turnaround and freed the company from some worries.
While the “core business” in South Korea rebounded strongly in this quarter after a weak phase, NCSoft’s revenues in North America and Europe stagnate.
ArenaNet examines mobile version for Guild Wars 2
What is happening with Guild Wars 2? There is new information about Guild Wars 2: One of the analysts present from Samsung Securities asked how a mobile version for Guild Wars 2 is looking. After all, many mobile versions for established brands are now coming.
NCSoft states that ArenaNet is examining various projects, including for mobile. As a result of these examinations, prototypes are being built.
It is hard to say whether Guild Wars 2 will come to mobile. At the moment, they are looking into it. They are in a phase of exploring all the possibilities that are open.
NCSoft says that they have registered the trend of PC games coming to consoles. In the future, new titles will be developed not only for PC but also for consoles.
However, most questions from the analysts present were about Lineage M.
There was nothing to hear about the eagerly awaited Project TL. NCSoft is planning 4 new MMOs and MMORPGs for PC and consoles – but it is still quiet here.
