'4 Billion Won Daily Sales' Netmarble Captivates US... Earnings Expectations Soar

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Netmarble's new game "The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross" is capturing the hearts of North American users, raising expectations for this year's performance.

According to the Apple App Store sales ranking on March 3 by mobile app market analysis site App Annie, "The Seven Deadly Sins" ranked 3rd in North America on the 28th of last month and 1st in France and Germany. It also topped the sales rankings in major Asian countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. The game is a massive mobile RPG utilizing the intellectual property (IP) of the popular Japanese animation "The Seven Deadly Sins."

Lee Kyung-il, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, stated, "The estimated daily sales of 'The Seven Deadly Sins' in the U.S. have expanded to about 4 billion KRW," adding, "With the update of main story chapter 8, including one of the popular characters Escanor, the sales rankings in major countries are surging."

Netmarble is also globally launching games that have succeeded domestically, in addition to new titles. One of their flagship games, "Blade & Soul Revolution," is scheduled for release in 24 Asian countries in the second quarter.

The analyst said, "The current number of pre-registrations for Blade & Soul Revolution has surpassed 1.5 million in four weeks," and analyzed, "Compared to the past Asian pre-registrations for Lineage 2 Revolution (2 million in five weeks), the growth rate is slower, but considering that it did not involve large-scale marketing, it is judged to be positive."

He added, "Considering the IP recognition of the original work and the user-friendly payment model applied, the lifecycle is expected to be longer than Lineage 2 Revolution."

After the release in the Asian region in the second quarter, service expansion to global regions including North America and Europe is also anticipated. Accordingly, Netmarble's performance outlook for this year is positive. According to securities firms, Netmarble's consolidated revenue and operating profit forecasts for this year are 2.5303 trillion KRW and 307.8 billion KRW, respectively. The operating profit represents a 51.9% increase compared to last year.

Park Young-jae, head of Netmarble's business division, said, "We plan to continue introducing various characters and content so that our games can be consistently loved by global users."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.