NCsoft Q2 profits soar 451% with Aion

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).

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.