Hello everyone, and welcome to Nexon's earnings conference call. Thank you for joining us today. With me are Junghun Lee, President and CEO of Nexon, and Shiro Uemura, CFO. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements, including statements about our results of operation and financial condition, such as revenues attributable to our key titles, growth prospects, including with respect to the online games industry, our ability to compete effectively, adapt to new technologies, and address new technical challenges, our use of intellectual property, and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements represent our predictions, projections, and expectations about future events, which we believe are reasonable or based on reasonable assumptions. However, numerous risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Information on some of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our earnings-related IR documents.
We assume no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements. Please note, net income refers to net income attributable to owners of the parent, as stated in Nexon's consolidated financial results. Furthermore, this conference call is intended to provide investors and analysts with financial and operational information about Nexon, not to solicit or recommend any sale or purchase of stock or other securities of Nexon. A recording of this conference call will be available on our investor relations website following this call. Unauthorized recording of this conference call is not permitted. Now, I'll pass the call to.
Thank you, Kawai-san. Good afternoon, and thank you to those joining today's call.
Earlier today, Nexon posted a letter and slide deck with details on our recent performance and outlook. On today's call, I will start with some context on our progress, then hand it off to Uemura-san, who will review the financials. Nexon's first-quarter revenue grew 5% year over year and came within our expectations at JPY 113.9 billion. Operating income increased by 43% to JPY 41.6 billion, exceeding our outlook. Nexon has begun the year with a clear demonstration of our commitment to our 2025 priorities and multi-year IP growth initiative. Last quarter, we identified the need to strengthen and regain momentum in key franchises while maintaining steady progress on developing and releasing new games. I am pleased to report that our progress to date in 2025 checks each of those boxes.
In Q1, our three biggest franchises, Dungeon & Fighter, MapleStory, and FC, together delivered a meaningful 21% year-over-year growth, up from 8% in Q4. This included a clear turnaround for PC Dungeon & Fighter in Korea and a strong performance for MapleStory. Dungeon & Fighter in Korea more than doubled its MAUs and PUs versus a year ago, achieving record-high quarterly revenue. Also in Korea, MapleStory achieved strong improvements to DAUs, pay rate, and ARPPU to deliver year-over-year revenue growth of 43%. Additionally, we launched two new games in the quarter. The first was Khazan, which is a strategic first step in our initiative for introducing the Dungeon & Fighter franchise to a global audience. Players around the world, particularly in the West, recognized the high quality and gave Khazan on PC a Metacritic score of 83. The game also earned an 88 on Steam and a 90 on OpenCritic.
Khazan delivered on our strategic goals and set the stage for two related games expected by 2027. The second new game, Mabinogi Mobile, outperformed our expectations in its debut in Korea. Enjoyed by a broad range of players, the game charted in the launch window as the number one most popular and number three grossing game on Android and the number one grossing game on iOS. This success creates potential for rollout in additional markets. Finally, we are excited about our progress on partnerships with Tencent, which includes new co-developed content for Dungeon & Fighter Mobile coming to China later this year. Additionally, last month, Tencent announced pre-registrations for Khazan and The Finals, specifically adapted to match the tastes of millions of players in the region.
Looking to our second-quarter guidance, we begin with the recognition of a difficult comparison, which includes the explosively successful launch of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China last year. Nevertheless, we expect our Q2 revenue to be largely similar to last year on a constant currency basis. This is attributable to strong growth expected from PC Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory, plus a solid traction from new games, particularly Mabinogi Mobile. Our second quarter is also notable for updates on two new and highly innovative games, Arc Raiders and MapleStory N. Earlier this month, Embark Studios hosted a large global tech test for Arc Raiders, which for the first time revealed the game's intense, tactile PvPvE gameplay and progression system. The response to the test on player forums was deeply gratifying, and test metrics widely exceeded our expectations.
We set a goal for 5 million YouTube views and got more than 20 million. We set a goal to be a top 10-viewed game on Twitch and reached the top 6. We exceeded our wishlist goal on Steam by more than 50%. The game performed well, particularly in Western markets, and the early retention rate showed a 25-point improvement over the previous test in Q4 last year. The MBAC team is now heads down on integrating test feedback and polishing the game. Next, MapleStory N, the first game in our MapleStory Universe initiative, which adapts blockchain technology to reward player engagement, is scheduled for release on May 15. MapleStory N features a user-driven economy with rewards based on digital ownership of NFTs rather than cash shop. The game will be available in select markets around the world.
To summarize the last four months, we achieved turnaround performances in our biggest franchises, successfully launched new games, built on partnerships, and continued to make steady progress in developing all new games with potential to break out as hits. Nexon is delivering on its promises to our players and to our investors. With that, I will hand it off to Uemura-san.
Our first quarter result offered a clear reflection of our priorities and longer-term IP growth initiatives, with turnaround performances in Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory, as well as strategic progress in IP expansion, which included successful launches of two new games, the first, Khazan and Mabinogi Mobile. Q1 revenue came within the expected range at JPY 113.9 billion. Year-on-year, it was up 5% on an as-reported basis and up 9% on a constant currency basis, driven by the collective growth in our three largest franchises and contributions from new games. Average income was JPY 41.6 billion, exceeding our outlook. Stronger-than-expected performances of our major titles like Dungeon & Fighter PC and MapleStory drove higher margins, plus costs came in below our plan.
Year-on-year, operating income increased by 43%, driven by the collective strong growth of our three key franchises and a Q1 2024 one-time impairment loss of JPY 6.2 billion, which did not repeat this year. This was achieved while investing to expand our IP portfolio. Despite the operating income outperformance, net income came within the expected range at JPY 26.3 billion due to an FX loss of JPY 4.2 billion and an impairment loss of JPY 1.6 billion on an investment accounted for using the equity method, year-on-year. It was down 27% due to an FX loss of JPY 4.2 billion recorded in Q1 2025, while recording an FX gain of JPY 10.7 billion in Q1 2024.
Turning to performance by franchise, in Q1, our Dungeon & Fighter franchise grew 60% YOY, driven by contributions from Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China and The First Berserker: Khazan, which released in March, plus strong growth from PC Dungeon & Fighter in Korea, which nearly doubled revenue from a year ago. In China, PC Dungeon & Fighter came in at the high end of our outlook, driven by the new year update, which provided solid improvements to the in-game economic balance and generated an increase in DAUs throughout the quarter. In Korea, the new year updates more than doubled both MAUs and PUs, driving record-high quarterly revenue. For Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, DAUs tracked below our expectations in China, resulting in Q1 revenue, which fell short of our outlook. The First Berserker: Khazan made a global debut on March 28, with great ratings from both players and critics.
While revenue in Q1 was below our outlook, the game achieved our objective as a strategic first step to introduce and expand Dungeon & Fighter IP to a global audience. Next, our MapleStory franchise returned to growth, increasing 8% YOY, driven by the strong performance of its PC version in Korea and the West. In Korea, the successful large winter update introduced in December drove strong improvements to player engagement, represented by key metrics including DAU, pay rate, and RPU. As a result, Q1 revenue in Korea marked 43% year-over-year growth, exceeding our expectations. Global MapleStory also exceeded our outlook, but declined YOY compared to the record-high sales in Q1 2024, driven by a large and highly anticipated update. However, servicing the Western markets continued to demonstrate strength, with a 35% YOY revenue growth, driven by the hyper-localized content developed by our team in Los Angeles.
For MapleStory, walls of Q1 revenue increased by 11% YOY as we expanded the service region into Europe. Turning to our FC franchise, FC Online exceeded our outlook, driven by the well-received Team of the Year feature, while FC Mobile fell short of expectations. Overall, franchise revenue declined YOY, but came within the expected range. Finally, Mabinogi Mobile, a new experience on established franchise, launched on March 27 and significantly outperformed our expectations, demonstrating broad appeal with strongly positive feedback. Mabinogi Mobile is a cross-platform game available both on PC and mobile. Moving on to our second quarter 2025 outlook, we expect FX to negatively impact revenue by roughly 10%. Our Q2 revenue is expected to be in the range of JPY 99.6 billion-JPY 110.3 billion, representing a 19%-10% decrease on an as-reported basis or 9% decrease to 1% increase on a constant currency basis YOY.
Despite an extremely high comparison with Q2 2024, driven by the explosively successful launch of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China last year, we expect our Q2 revenue to be largely similar to last year on a constant currency basis. This is attributable to strong growth expected from PC Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory, as well as solid contributions from Mabinogi Mobile. We expect the Dungeon & Fighter franchise to decline by about 40% this year versus last year. This is due to the difficult comparison with last Q2 when the franchise revenue increased by 162% with the launch of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile. However, the result will be partially offset by the growth from PC Dungeon & Fighter and a contribution from The First Berserker: Khazan. Dungeon & Fighter Mobile will host a one-year anniversary event to energize the base and attract new players.
However, we anticipate a sequential decline in revenue due to seasonality. For the PC version of Dungeon & Fighter, we expect revenue to return to growth year-over-year in China and momentum to continue in Korea. Moving to MapleStory, we expect the franchise to accelerate growth to roughly 20% year-over-year. For the PC version of MapleStory in Korea, we expect a revenue increase year-on-year. In April, we celebrated its 22nd anniversary with a major content update and event. In the coming months, we will release a rich pipeline of new content, including a large-scale summer update. We also expect year-over-year growth in global MapleStory and MapleStory World. The May 15 launch of our innovative blockchain project, MapleStory N, will generate valuable learnings about player rewards, but is not expected to deliver significant revenue in the second quarter. Revenues from our FC franchise are expected to decrease year-over-year.
However, we anticipate increased player excitement as we get closer to the World Cup in the summer of 2026. Mabinogi Mobile is expected to make a significant contribution in Q2, although we anticipate its momentum to settle down following a successful launch. We expect the Q2 operating income to be in the range of JPY 22.5 billion-JPY 31.1 billion, representing a 50%-30%, a 31% decrease on an as-reported basis or 45%-24% decrease on a constant currency basis year over year. Regarding costs, we anticipate increased royalty expenses and platform fees due to Mabinogi Mobile, which is developed by our joint venture studio. Also, we expect increased marketing expenses associated with the promotions for new titles and increased fees to creators tied to revenue growth in MapleStory World. However, we expect a decrease in HR costs due to lower performance-based bonuses.
We anticipate net income to be in the range of JPY 16.8 billion-JPY 23.3 billion, representing a 58%-42% decrease on an as-reported basis or 54%-36% decrease on a constant currency basis year over year. In Q2 2024, we record an FX gain of JPY 8.2 billion. Finally, I would like to provide an update on our shareholder return. We started the execution of a JPY 50 billion share repurchase from February 14 as a part of the one-year JPY 100 billion share repurchase policy. Through the end of April, we have acquired approximately 14.8 million shares for JPY 30.3 billion. We are scheduled to complete the purchase of the remaining JPY 19.7 billion worth of the shares by June 30, 2025.
After the acquisition of the first JPY 50 billion of the plan, we intend to buy the remaining JPY 50 billion by February 2026, with the consideration of factors including investment opportunities, financial conditions, and the market environment. I'll now turn the call over to CEO Junghun Lee for a quick summary ahead of taking your questions.
Thank you, Uemura-san. Before we take your questions, I want to offer some perspective on how Nexon plans to navigate the volatile economic climate that is currently disrupting global markets. We believe Nexon is insulated from much of the economic volatility and positioned for stability and growth. To start, games have been historically resistant to macroeconomic challenges, and our portfolio of digital entertainment is not expected to be impacted by tariffs. More importantly, our company is anchored by recurring revenue from multiple established franchises, a clearly defined growth plan, a robust pipeline of new games in development, strategic partnerships for capturing new growth opportunities in large markets, world-class live operations, and a balance sheet with approximately JPY 600 billion in cash that can be used to drive new opportunities and to enhance shareholder returns. Come what may, our company is well-built, resilient, and positioned for sustained growth.
Nexon can and will continue to deliver on our promises to players and to our investors. Operator, we are ready to take questions.
If you wish to ask a question, please press the raise hand button on the screen. When the hand icon is displayed on your screen, that means you have raised your hand. When it comes to your turn, you will receive an unmute notification on your screen. Please unmute yourself and proceed with your question. This earnings presentation is conducted with consecutive interpretation between Japanese, English, and Korean. Even if the translation for your selected language has finished, the translation on the other language channel may be continuing. Please wait until the permission is displayed on the screen when you ask a question. We will begin taking your questions shortly. Please hold on for a moment.
最初のご質問者はモルガンスタンレー証券のセヨンパク様です。それではご質問者様、ご質問をお願いします。
Hello.
The first question we have received from Mr. Seyon Park from Morgan Stanley.
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes, I can hear you.
I have two questions. Thank you for the opportunity. The first question is on DNF. My impression is that the company and management feel a little bit more confident on the progress DNF has made when comparing with the commentary from the previous earnings call. Can you confirm this? If so, maybe elaborate a little bit on where you are seeing better engagement with players? I know Korea seems to be more apparent, but a little bit of color of what you're seeing on the ground in China would be much appreciated. The second question is I was originally planning to ask on ARC Raiders, but given that you've already provided some color, I wanted to ask on the Q1 results. The revenue was within your guidance, but the operating profit was meaningfully above guidance.
I wanted to see, or I'm curious whether this is due to maybe lower spend on OPEX, or it's more a function of the higher margin services doing better than some of your lower margin services. Thank you.
私の方から2つ質問させていただきたいと思います。本日はこのような質問をする機会をくださいまして感謝申し上げます。まず最初にアラド戦記について、DNFについてお伺いしたいと思います。私の印象では、御社の経営層がその前回出されたコメントに比べまして、今回そのDNFの業績が良かったと思うので、もう少しその自信を持っていらっしゃるんではないかというふうに思っておりますが、この点についてのその詳細な見解を教えていただけませんでしょうか。すなわち、例えばエンゲージメントがコメントを出した前回よりも上がったということがその背景にあるのか、そしてこの点について韓国ではそれが明確なんですが、中国ではどういう状況になっているでしょうか。そして2つ目の質問ですけれども、これはアークレイダーズについて少しご説明もあったかと思いますが、1Qのこの業績結果を見てみますと、売上収益についてはガイダンス内に収まっているように思いますが、しかし営業利益についてはガイダンスを少し上回っているように思っております。こちらについてはその背景としてOPEXに使う費用が想定よりも少なかったという理由なのか、あるいは利益率の低いサービスよりも利益率の高い、マージンの高いサービスがより多く売れたからという理由でしょうか。
안녕하세요, 세현 님. 질문 주셔서 감사합니다. 던전 앤 파이터에 대한 내용과 비용과 관련된 내용 두 가지를 질문해 주신 것으로 이해를 했습니다.
Thank you very much, Seyon, for your question. I understood that your question is mostly about Dungeon & Fighter as well as the cost in the second quarter.
네, 첫 번째 던전 앤 파이터 중국 PC 서비스와 관련해서는 제가 답변을 드리고, 두 번째 내용과 그리고 던전 앤 파이터 PC 중국에 대해서 첨언 주실 부분은 우에무라 상께서 답변을 드리도록 하겠습니다.
I think for the Dungeon & Fighter PC in China, I will be able to provide some colors on that. Uemura-san will also be able to add some comments on that, he will be able to give some more explanations on the cost aspect.
먼저 던전 앤 파이터 PC 중국에 대해서 말씀을 드리면, 당사의 1분기 실적과 2분기 전망은 한국 및 중국 PC 버전의 명확한 개선세에 대한 인식에서 출발을 합니다.
Now, to begin with, when it comes to Dungeon & Fighter PC in China, our first quarter results and the second quarter outlook all begin with the recognition of a clear improvement in the PC game in both Korea and China.
한국 서비스는 즉각적인 성장을 기록했으나, 중국은 지난해 경험했던 어려움에서 아직 회복 중이기에 개선이 점진적일 것으로 예상을 하고 있습니다.
While the Korea service delivered immediate growth, we do expect gradual improvement for China as we are just recovering from challenges that we faced last year.
네, 저희가 가장 주목하고 있는 포인트는 일단은 한국과 중국을 놓고 봤었을 때 마켓 사이즈에 대한 부분을 꼭 말씀을 드리고 싶습니다. 한국 같은 경우는, 중국 같은 경우는 한국보다 Dungeon & Fighter PC를 즐기는 유저들의 규모가 10배 이상 차이가 나는 굉장히 큰 시장이기 때문에 저희가 만든 1년 동안 만든 콘텐츠가 중국에 더 도달하기 위해서는 조금 더 시간이 필요할 것으로 판단을 하고 있습니다.
I would like to maybe take a note on one factor that we are also taking a close look at, which is the market size difference in China and Korea. When it comes to China, the user volume of those who enjoy Dungeon & Fighter PC is around or more than 10 times bigger than that in South Korea, which obviously represents how big the China market is. Therefore, we believe it will take some time physically to have our content that we produce throughout the year to have its momentum spread throughout this entire community.
다만 분명한 것은 저희가 작년 1년 동안 아주 세심하게 준비해온 Dungeon & Fighter의 업데이트가 한국에서도 좋은 반응을 얻고 있고, 좋은 콘텐츠임이 증명됐다라는 것들은 매우 확신할 수 있습니다.
However, what we believe is clear is that the content that we have prepared very carefully throughout last year, throughout the past one year, this update that we provided for Dungeon & Fighter was greatly loved by Korea users. It was received very well, and we believe that it is clear evidence that the content itself is a great content.
그래서 저는 중국에서 긍정적인 추세가 유지되는 것을 크게 기대를 하고 있고요. 여기에 더해서 지난 실적 발표 때 말씀드렸던 텐센트와의 공동 개발 콘텐츠도 올 하반기에는 추가가 될 것으로 보이기 때문에 지속적으로 저희는 좋은 성과가 날 수 있도록 최선을 다하고 지켜보고 있습니다.
Therefore, we do hope to maintain a favorable trend in China as well. In addition, as we have shared during our last earnings call, we have the co-developed content with Tencent, which will be introduced later this year. All in all, we will continue to make our best effort to make sure that we maintain this great momentum and continue to deliver good performance.
네, 이상으로 던전 앤 파이터에 대해서 제가 답변을 드렸고, 두 번째 질문에 대해서는 우에무라 상께서 답변을 드리도록 하겠습니다.
Now, that will be it for my inputs for the Dungeon & Fighter. I would like to ask Uemura-san for his inputs for the second question.
はい、今のアラド戦記に関して、資料が申し上げたことはほとんどなんですけれども、あえて下期に向けた見方というところでお話ししますと、韓国のアラド戦記に関しては非常にヘルシーな成長という形で、KPIをすべて良好な形での成長なので、ある程度下期に向けてもソリッドなものになると思っております。
With respect to the Dungeon & Fighter, it is for what the CEO said, I shared his viewpoint. If I may add some comment, towards the second half of the year, we find that in Korea, Dungeon & Fighter shows a healthy growth. When we look into all the KPIs, it shows a very good result. I do believe that it is a very solid performance.
中国のアラド戦記につきましては、確かに好転の兆しというのは見えてきているというふうに考えております。ただ、KPI等の分析によりますと、もうQ1においてはユーザーが大きく戻ってきているわけではありませんで、そのような中でコンテンツのアップデート及び成長システムの改善、そしてゲーム内バランスが大きく良化したというところで我々の予測を上回ってきました。
Now, if I may talk about the Dungeon & Fighter in China, we see there is a sign of improvement. According to the KPI analysis, in Q1, the number of users is not coming back as we thought, not to the extent that we assumed. Through the content update, as well as the progression system improvement, and also in-game economic balance improvement, this will be contributable to the uptick of our outlook.
そのような中で、足元のDAU等のKPIを含んだトレンドを申し上げますと、これは好転しているというような状況です。したがって、今、労働説のアップデートを行っておりますけれども、そこの販売が非常に好調であると。そういった中でQ2は成長するんではないかというふうに考えております。今後、さらなる急務ユーザーの復帰を促しながら、安定した成長を促せるような形で慎重に運営していきたいと考えております。
With that, if I talk about the current situation, including the trend, including DAU, we find a turnaround. Also, there is an update during the Labor Day period. I do believe that sales is quite strong. With that, we think that there will be an expansion in the second quarter. That will be helpful for idle users or the users who have not returned, would come back.
次に、2つ目の質問、コストに関してなんですけども、Q1において利益が大きく上回ったということで、こちらに関してはレベニューミックスの部分もありますけれども、大きくはマーケティングコストを見込んだほど使わなかったということです。2点目は、業績連動商用が見込みほどいかなかったと。これはアラド戦記モバイルが想定を下回ったということに起因するものとなります。
The second question is around cost. Now, in the first quarter, there is a better result in terms of the profit. It was not just contributed by the revenue mix, but this is because of the marketing cost or expenses that we did not spend as we thought. In addition to that, due to the lower result of the Dungeon & Fighter than what we expected, we did not spend as much as for what we thought in terms of the performance-based bonus. This is the Dungeon & Fighter Mobile.
はい、以上回答しました。
This concludes my response.
すいません、NEXON IRの河合です。参加者の皆様にお願いがあります。通訳のためにご質問は一問一答でお願いします。
Hi everyone, this is Takano Kawai from NEXON Investor Relations. We would appreciate if everyone would ask questions one by one going forward. Thank you for your understanding.
次のご質問者はUBS証券のイージャー・ジャイ様です。それではご質問者様、ご質問をお願いします。
Next question is from Ms. Yijia Zhai from UBS Securities. Please do ask questions.
UBS証券のジャイと申します。ご指名ありがとうございます。ちょっと質問したいものが3点あるんですけれども、その中の2点が先ほどのパックさんとかなりかぶっていまして、ちょっと補足するというような形でお願いしたいです。まず1点目のところですけれども、ちょっと中国のモバイル版のアラド戦記について、間もなく1周年記念イベントをやるかと思いますが、今回の重心はユーザーアクティビティ、例えばユーザー数のさらなる増加、それから休眠ユーザーの復帰、それともマネタイゼーションに置くんですか。ちょっと売上に対してどのような想定をすればよろしいでしょうか。これは1点目です。
Thank you very much for designating my name. I do have three questions, but two questions are actually a little bit overlapping with what earlier question by Mr. Park said. Even that is the case, let me add some questions. First question is in regards to the Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China. I do believe that the first anniversary is nearing, and I was wondering how the revenue will be tied to with what background. For example, is it that the user activities are more galvanized or there is an increased number of users who are not utilizing at the moment but coming back? Coming back users number is going up or the number of users per se is increasing. How are you focusing on monetizing this service?
現在のアラド戦記モバイル中国の状況を申し上げますと、前四半期において暮れにレベルキャップの解放を行って、そこでユーザーの離脱を食い止める形でうまくやれて、そのあと旧正月のアップデートを行うことでさらなる成長というふうに考えておったんですけれども、残念ながら旧正月のアップデートがうまく機能させることができませんでした。
With respect to Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China, we did the release of the level cap at the end of last year, that is the last quarter, in order to stave off for those users to leave the game. Also, we did a New Year update. With that, we were expecting to have an expansion. Having said that, such update was not working in the way that we thought.
そのような状況の中、Q1は我々の想定を下回ったんですけれども、今我々が考えているアラド戦記モバイルに対するやるべきことというのは明確となっております。
Given such a situation, the result of the Q1 was lower than our expectations. Under such circumstances, it is very clear that what we need to do with Dungeon & Fighter Mobile.
一つ目はしっかりと中国の変化するマーケットに合わせていくためのハイパーローカライゼーションというところ。もう一つはゲームの中で様々な多様性のあるゲームを追加することによってユーザーを常に引きつけていくための施策ということになります。
Now, first point is in order to make sure we will accommodate the changing Chinese market, we are going to implement a hyper localization. With respect to the game, we will add some other languages in order to expand diversity so that we'll be able to attract more users.
その2つの対処すべき課題に関しては、テンセント、パートナーであるテンセントとしっかりと今鋭意話し合いながら開発を進めているというところですので、そこに対処するということになりますし、1周年記念、当然1周年記念を迎えるんですけれども、とにかくまずやるべきことはユーザーエンゲージメントを高めていくと。で、離脱ユーザーを抑えるということですので、そこに注力していきたいというふうに考えております。
In order to address those two issues, currently we are under discussion with Tencent, and also co-development is underway with Tencent. Since the first anniversary is nearing, we would like to focus on improving or elevating user engagement and also try to stave off the users to leave our game.
じゃあ、最後はどちらでしょうか。
はい、ありがとうございます。ではちょっと2点目、先ほどのコストのところについて追加の質問ですけれども、今回第1四半期は当初計画と比べて主にマーケティングコストを低めに抑えることができたっていうことなんですけれども、それを控えられた理由は何ですか。それと第2四半期もまたちょっとコストについていろいろガイダンス出されているかと思いますが、今回の第2四半期のコストに対してアップサイド要因、ダウンサイド要因、それぞれどういうふうに理解すればよろしいですか。
The second question, this is the additional question, but I'd like to ask on cost. You mentioned that the marketing expenses were controlled and it was lower than your plan in the first quarter. In the second quarter, I think that you provided guidance on cost too, but are there any factors that would be turning into upside or downside?
はい、マーケティングコストに関しましては、我々常にその効果あるいはリターンを考えながらしっかりと使っていくということを心がけております。そういった中で、当然新作に対してもマーケティングしますけれども、既存のタイトルに対しても行います。その中で十分な効果が得られた、あるいはこれ以上使う必要がないというような判断をすれば、当然控えることもあり得るというふうになります。
With respect to the marketing expenses, and of course we have in our mind how it would generate effect or how return will be generated, always we are thinking about that. Now, we are working over the marketing expenses, not just the new titles, but also existing titles, and evaluating whether or not it is exerting a sufficient impact and effect. If we find that it is not necessary to spend further marketing expenses, then we will refrain from doing so.
二級に関してのコストの見方なんですけども、先ほど申し上げたような業績連動商用に関わるようなタイトルもある程度落ち着いてきている状況ですし、マーケティングコストに関しては先ほどの考え方から申し上げると増減はあり得ると思いますけれども、我々が今提供している二級のコストに関してはそれほど大きなアップサイド、ダウンサイドというか、増減するものはないというふうに考えております。
Now the question over how you can interpret the cost for the second quarter. As I said earlier, the performance-based bonus titles show some calmness, and with respect to the marketing expenses going up or down, we see in the second quarter's marketing expenses, there is no such massive upside or downside factors.
ありがとうございます。ちょっとクイックに確認させてください。マビノギって業績連動商用出ますか。
Let me quickly ask this question. For a title called Mabinogi, is it also linked to the performance-based bonus?
マビノギに関してはジョイントベンチャーで開発したタイトルをNEXONがパブリッシングするというような形で我々パブリッシャーとしてやっておりますので、業績連動商用等は発生しません。
With respect to Mabinogi Mobile, it is the joint venture developed title, and what we, NEXON, is involved is for publishing services. Therefore, there is no performance-based bonus in place with this Mabinogi.
はい、ありがとうございます。では最後の質問はちょっとザ・ファーストバサカーについてですけれども、こちらは高い評価にもかかわらずちょっと販売本数が御社の想定よりも行かなかったというのがあるんですけれども、こちらの理由について御社はどういうふうに分析されていますか。あとは近年ちょっと他社さんを含めて新規IPは高得点にもかかわらずちょっと販売がなかなか伸びないケースも多数見られていますので、もしマーケティング面で何か改善できる余地があるところがあればちょっと教えていただきたいです。よろしくお願いします。
This is my last question. This is regarding the first Khazan, and I do believe that it is very highly received, even though the score shows that it is very well received, but did not reach to the unit sales. It is not so high as the unit sales. I would like to know the reason for that, and have you analyzed the reason for that? In addition to that, if I tell you the competitors are new IPs, and also they enjoy a high score or high review result, but their sales are not growing as the review score shows. Do you think that you'll be able to improve this situation, or do you have some leeway to improve this situation through marketing activities?
안녕하세요, 자이상. 이 질문에 대해서는 제가 답변을 드리도록 하겠습니다.
Hello, Zhai. I'll be able to give answers from my end.
저희가 작년 실적 발표 때도 지속적으로 말씀드렸다시피, 카자는 던전 & 파이터 IP를 글로벌 오디언스, 특히 서구 시장에 소개하기 위한 당사의 전략적 프로젝트였었습니다.
Now, as we have constantly communicated through our earnings communications throughout last year, Khazan is our strategic project that is designed to introduce the Dungeon & Fighter franchise to a global audience, especially those in the West.
네, 이런 전략적 타이틀이 없기 때문에 저희 내부적으로는 사실 판매량보다는 서구 시장 혹은 글로벌 시장에서 유저들에게 좋은 평가를 받는 것을 매출 목표보다 더 우선시 생각하고 있었습니다.
As such, since this title was a very strategic project for us, as mentioned, internally, rather than the volume of sales itself, for us, our higher priority actually was on user reception in the Western market as well as the global market.
네, 스크립트에서도 말씀드렸다시피 저희가 판단컨대 여러 평가 기관에서의 높은 스코어는 저희가 생각했었던 목표보다 훨씬 더 기대를 뛰어넘는 아주 좋은 평가였었습니다.
As I have mentioned during the call, a lot of great and positive ratings on the rating platforms really exceeded our internal anticipation that we set initially.
그래서 저희는 저희가 세웠던 전략적 첫 단계를 성공적으로 달성을 했다라고 평가를 하고 있으며, 카잔을 통해서 2027년까지 출시 예정인 던전 앤 파이터 IP 기반의 두 개의 신작, 프로젝트 오버킬과 그리고 던전 앤 파이터 아라드를 위한 기반을 잘 마련했다고 판단하고 있습니다.
We believe that Khazan was able to deliver on its objective as the very first step, its very first strategic step for the franchise, and we also believe that the title has successfully set the stage for two upcoming new titles, which will follow by 2027, Project Overkill and Dungeon & Fighter Arad.
두 가지에 대해서 조금 더 말씀을 드리고 싶은데요. 첫 번째는 파트너사인 Tencent와 함께 Khazan의 현지화 작업을 진행 중에 있으며, 4월부터 사전 등록을 시작을 했습니다.
I would like to also reiterate on two further aspects, first of which is our partnership with Tencent in regards to the localization of Khazan. We have initiated pre-registration since April.
이에 따라서 중국이라는 거대한 시장에서의 다양한 기회를 기대를 하고 있고요.
With that, we are looking forward to these vast opportunities within this large market of China.
마지막으로 두 번째는 저희는 팬들과 커뮤니티에 대한 약속을 이어가면서 카잔의 전반적인 가치를 제고하기 위해서 품질 개선과 향후 콘텐츠 업데이트를 지속해 나갈 계획입니다.
We remain highly committed to our fans and community as we continue on with updating Khazan with quality improvements as well as some future content updates to increase the overall value of the specific title.
그리고 이제 본격적으로 플레이어의 저변 확대를 위한 세일즈 및 마케팅 전략도 하반기부터 본격적으로 진행을 할 계획입니다. 감사합니다.
Moreover, in order to expand our user base, we plan to, and we are exploring some sales and marketing strategies, full-on sales and marketing strategies for the second half. That would be it for my answer. Thank you.
ありがとうございました。
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press the raise hand button on the screen. When the hand icon is displayed on your screen, that means you have raised your hand. Also, please wait until the permission is displayed on the screen when you ask a question. This concludes the question and answer session. Mr. Kawai, I'd like to hand over to you for any additional or closing remarks.
Thank you. If there are no further questions, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your participation in this call. Please feel free to contact the NEXON investor relations at investors@nexon.co.jp should you have any further questions. We appreciate your interest in NEXON and look forward to meeting with you, whether it is here in Tokyo or in your corner of the world.