The quarterly figures from NCSoft are here. They paint a clear picture: The mobile MMORPG Lineage M has generated over 400 million euros in Asia. The numbers for Guild Wars 2 also show an upward trend. However, the level is significantly lower than it was 2 years ago.
NCSoft’s business figures for the 3rd quarter of 2017 are here.
Blade & Soul and AION are stable – Where is WildStar?
There are actually no surprises with the PC MMORPGs. They had already taken a hit last quarter, but are still relatively respectable. The popular games in Asia like Lineage and Lineage 2 are stable at relatively low levels. The same goes for AION and Blade & Soul, which are also available in the West.
Perpetual problem child WildStar is once again not part of the public quarterly figures.
Guild Wars 2 probably no longer plays the big role it did in 2015
There is actually good news for the Western game Guild Wars 2. Here, revenues have shot up by 49% compared to the previous quarter. This is due to the expansion “Path of Fire”, which was released at the end of September.
However, the news is only really encouraging at first glance: Guild Wars improved from a negative record of 13.5 billion won to 20.1 billion won (about 15.3 million euros).
This is overall a significantly lower level than it was 2 years ago. Back then, the first expansion for Guild Wars 2, “Heart of Thorns”, brought GW2 from 20.6 billion won to 37 billion won (about 28 million euros).
GW2 is quite far away from such values in 2017. In 2017, the “record revenue with a fresh expansion” is the level that Guild Wars 2 had 2 years ago in a normal state.
However: Heart of Thorns was released at the beginning of the quarter, while Path of Fire was at the end of the quarter. Therefore, it’s possible that some sales extend into the next quarter.
Nevertheless, it seems clear that GW2 no longer plays the role it did in 2015.
Mobile on the rise, Lineage M generates 420 million euros in the quarter
Overall, NCSoft continues the trend from the last quarter. In 2/2017, all PC MMORPGs dropped, but the mobile MMORPG Lineage M was able to catch the downward trend, having only been released at the end of the quarter.
The mobile game “Lineage M” has been active throughout the entire quarter and has lifted NCSoft’s business figures to unprecedented heights. Over the 3rd quarter, mobile games generated more than 551 billion won, which is about 420 million euros.
Any doubts about this are now dispelled; the future and present of NCSoft and their MMORPGs seem to lie in the mobile sector. In recent months, four new mobile MMORPGs have been introduced.
More about the future of NCSoft and its strategic direction can be found in this article:
10 Years of Waiting for Lineage 3 – Will NCSoft succeed in creating the great PC MMORPG?
