Netmarble Reports Record 2.8 Trillion Won Revenue Last Year...Eight New Titles to Launch This Year (Comprehensive)

Netmarble posted its highest-ever revenue last year, driven by the success of new titles including "Seven Knights Rebirth."

Netmarble headquarters, Guro-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyeong aymsdream@

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Netmarble announced on the 5th that, on a consolidated basis, its revenue for last year came in at 2.8351 trillion won, up 6.4% year-on-year, marking an all-time high. Operating profit was 352.5 billion won, and net profit was 245.1 billion won.

Fourth-quarter revenue also reached a quarterly record high of 797.6 billion won. Operating profit was 110.8 billion won, up 214.8% from the same period a year earlier. However, due to impairment losses on intangible assets, the company posted a net loss of 35.9 billion won for the quarter.

More than 70% of revenue came from overseas. In the fourth quarter, overseas revenue was 614.3 billion won, accounting for 77% of total quarterly revenue. On an annual cumulative basis, overseas revenue was 2.0704 trillion won, representing 73% of total revenue.

By region, revenue breakdown was: North America 39%, Korea 23%, Europe 12%, Southeast Asia 12%, and Japan and others at 7% each. By genre, the company maintained a diversified portfolio with role-playing games (RPG) at 42%, casual games at 33%, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) at 18%, and other genres at 7%.

Netmarble analyzed that seasonal update effects at its overseas subsidiaries, as well as regional expansion of existing titles such as "Seven Knights Rebirth," led to the overall revenue growth. The company added that operating profit has also been steadily increasing thanks to group-wide cost-efficiency initiatives.

Regarding fee rates for payment processing, Netmarble Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Do Giuk said during a conference call that "until the end of last year, the proportion of PC-based payments increased, which lowered the fee rate, and PC payments at overseas subsidiaries are also expanding," adding, "There is room for app market policies to be further improved in a favorable direction, so the proportion of payment fees this year will decrease compared to last year." On the sizable impairment loss recognized in the fourth quarter, he explained, "Recently, we discontinued the service of 'King Arthur,' which resulted in goodwill impairment."

'The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin'. Provided by Netmarble

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Netmarble plans to roll out a total of eight major titles this year. In the first quarter, "Stone Age: Idle" and "The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin" are scheduled for release. In the second quarter, the company will launch "Soul: Enchant" and "Monster Guild: Star Dive." In the second half, it plans to release "Solo Leveling: Karma," "Shangri-La Frontier: The Seven Ultimate Lifeforms," "Project Octopus," and "Evil Bane."

Netmarble CEO Kim Byungkyu said, "Last year, we achieved record-high results through the success of three new multi-genre titles, strengthened live-service capabilities, and a more efficient cost structure," adding, "This year, we will do our utmost to continue delivering meaningful growth by sequentially launching eight new titles that we have devoted great effort to developing, starting in the first quarter."

Netmarble also announced a shareholder return policy on the same day. The company will pay a cash dividend of 876 won per share, totaling 71.8 billion won, equivalent to 30% of the net profit attributable to owners of the parent for the 2025 fiscal year, and will cancel all of its treasury shares previously acquired, representing 4.7% of total shares. It also plans to raise the shareholder return ratio to up to 40% by 2028.

In addition, the company said it had partially disposed of its HYBE shares to improve its financial structure. It entered into a price return swap (PRS) contract with HYBE worth approximately 320.76 billion won (880,000 shares at a reference price of 364,500 won per share), and its remaining stake stands at 3,050,813 shares (7.09%).

CFO Do said, "This sale of HYBE shares was aimed at securing liquidity," adding, "It is in line with the ongoing efforts to improve our financial structure."

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