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NCsoft Q2 profits soar 451% with Aion

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Aug 13, 2009 12:20 pm PT

South Korean publisher's latest MMOG continues paying dividends, boosting April-June revenues 70% to $111.6 million.

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game business can be a risky one, but NCsoft appears to have scored a hit with its latest entrant into the genre, Aion: Tower of Eternity. Following on from the game's launch in Asia late last year, the South Korean publisher saw revenues spike 51 percent to KRW133.4 billion ($107.9 million) during its January-March quarter. Profit rocketed skyward 315 percent to KRW33.5 billion ($27 million).

Angels aren't exactly angelic in Aion.

NCsoft has reprised those gains during its April-June financial period. Reporting on its second-quarter results, NCsoft has said that sales grew to KRW138 billion ($111.6 million) during the three-month period, a 70 percent year-over-year rise. Net income continued its steep climb as well, jumping 451 percent during the quarter to KRW33.7 billion ($27 million).

Aion is expected to launch in North America on September 22, with the European rollout due September 25. But even with just the Asian market, the game was already NCsoft's top contributor during the quarter, amounting to 34 percent of all sales. Lineage 2 fell in behind Aion with 31 percent of revenues and was trailed by Lineage (23 percent), City of Heroes/Villains' (6 percent), and Guild Wars (4 percent).

When Aion does debut in the West next month, it will do so under new management. Earlier this week, NCsoft West announced that president of product development, ArenaNet cofounder, and Guild Wars cocreator Jeff Strain had departed the company. NCsoft West also said that publishing president David Reid had also left the company, though it noted that the two departures were unrelated.

39 Comments

  • drokmore

    Posted Sep 9, 2009 6:57 pm PT

    Im going to give this game a try. It's nice it's already had some time in overseas markets to help with balancing/bug issues so hopefully there will be less. The key to longevity is a decent end game which I haven't heard much about. PVP is fun, but the instances are what suck me in, I love the challenge of organizing group fights...

  • mitch7236

    Posted Aug 24, 2009 1:45 am PT

    to Invictuslemming. This is not a dig at you mate, but they had to make WOW easier, otherwise new players would not be able to complete the game, or compete with long term members. The second, is to make more money they had to adjust the game so that players could play solo.
    A lot of high level players have become too elitist. Everywhere I go I come across the us and them attitude. Between the players who want to play the rpg wow, and the high level instance players. You won't be allowed to join a lot of groups unless you have already got the achievement. The gap is getting wider. They are trying to combine three different game types. RPG, PVP and Team play. Something that is very difficult to achieve, and satisfy everybody. I do not like pvp games as you get people camping at respawn points, or noob hunting.
    I have difficulty with team play because of the time I play at, and in the case of some of wow's instances, I can't spare that much time. If you only have time for one or two parts of an instance it is almost impossible to gat a group.
    I have been playing rpgs for years, and wow is one of the better ones. However it frustrates me at times. A game that is as long as wow is, does not need silly added time penalties.
    I was looking at enjoying wow for years. Playing different classes and races. However, after experiencing the attitudes of some of the players, once I have completed the quests (less instances) I will move to another game.
    Mitch or Hairyox lvl 79 rogue

  • Zoldaire

    Posted Aug 19, 2009 8:10 am PT

    One more month, just one... more... month and I get to play this sweet, sweet game.

  • zekezagura

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 1:50 am PT

    @spoc101 um i have no idea where you got that information but its monthly pay just like pretty much all mmos please dont post things like that when it is false it hurts an amazing game. unless you were meaning cheap as in less money as a good thing sorry.

  • spoc101

    Posted Aug 18, 2009 1:01 am PT

    @Merl57 this game is hourly pay. 8 bucks will get you 100 hours and you dont use that time up when your not playing. its a cheap game xD

  • Tuco_Ramires

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 10:56 am PT

    NCSoft, Number One in Game Design,as always.
    Hope it's not 500% PvP as advertised though,I hate that.

  • NuKkU

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 9:29 am PT

    Woah i really wasnt expecting this to be honest this is good

  • jazilla

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 7:41 am PT

    NCSoft and ANet really have a solid stable of on-line games. I am speaking from a financial standpoint.

  • superkoolstud

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 2:25 am PT

    Lineage 2 still is the best mmo ever made (yes I played WoW for 3 years) Here is hoping Aion can be better or just as good.

  • mf1986

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 2:10 am PT

    aion is a meh, BRING GUILD WARS 2 ASAP

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 11:17 pm PT

    I am greatly looking forward to Aion. Champions Online also looks very cool. -I won't pay for two MMO's at the same time forever....

  • gameking5000 posted Aug 13, 2009 11:15 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    gameking5000

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 11:15 pm PT (hide)

    Let's see it if can beat WoW

  • Merl57

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 10:07 pm PT

    sad by the NCsoft lead quitting and angry that this has a monthly fee, I really don't have time anymore to play an MMO so, maybe sometime in the future I'll play, but I really wish i could kick it old school like I did with Guild Wars

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 6:15 pm PT

    that's good for them, the only reason to be in the business is to make money, find a nitch

  • Nocturnal_Speed

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 4:04 pm PT

    join - *become*

  • Nocturnal_Speed

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 4:03 pm PT

    2bitsmokey - I never really played WoW, tryed for a bit with a friend account and was completely turned off. The graphics and gameplay were pretty whack compared to L2 imo. Lineage 2 was a pretty sweet game overall, how the pvp was set up and the classes you could join. I checked on Aion, but it just seems there are way less classes then L2 wth?? Anyways, I probably jump in the beta like others say to see for myself. I'll probably just save up and wait for Lineage 3 in the future I assume haha thx though dude.

  • 2bitSmOkEy

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 3:52 pm PT

    Nocturnal_Speed. Its like a 50/50 split between l2 and WoW. Literally, for everything I found that obviously came from l2, there was something that was blatantly from WoW. I think its safe to say if you enjoyed lineage 2, you will probably enjoy Aion.

  • insideinstead

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 3:50 pm PT

    I've been in the beta. It's a nice change if you're tired of WoW, but I doubt it's going to be very competitive with WoW in the NA market. The graphics are excellent, but Aion relies on GameGuard, which conflicts with a lot of common drivers/software. The interface is also awkward compared to WoW and isn't very customizable. It's fine for soloing but becomes clunky if you try healing in groups (for example). There's also a weird split between PvE (the first levels) and PvP (the rest of the game).

    Anyone thinking of buying this might want to get into the beta and make sure that their system works with GameGuard, especially gaming mice/keyboards. People have reported issues with Razer drivers and some anti-virus software (there are a lot of anti-GameGuard threads on the beta boards).

  • Nocturnal_Speed

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 3:42 pm PT

    Hey guys, is it similar to Lineage 2?? the whole concept, world, pvp, trees or not nearly as big? I played L2 for quite sometime, but stopped due to college etc.. I plan on going back into MMO after I build a pc soon, but I don't wanna jump back into L2; try a fresh start. Any answers would be appreciated.

  • Ntdg1

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 3:26 pm PT

    @Celeste

    You have a point and I had considered how one gets pigeon holed into certain talents at end game in WoW. But I also wanted to mention that some of the most fun I had in WoW during raids was debating with other members of my class the validity of certain talents. You always have that one raid member who SWEARS up and down a talent you see as useless has some merit. I suppose it was just the total absence of a talent tree that bothered me. Just shocked me that it wasn't there when I had become so accustomed to it through WoW and AoC. One thing I will say about Aion that was really cool was the flying. I think they got it right. Being able to hit a key and take off from standing is a really cool and liberating feeling. I haven't played a game yet that could emulate that experience.

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