NCsoft posts 2nd quarter loss

Korean-headquartered MMO publisher NCsoft has posted its second quarter financial results, showing a marked decline in profits which is largely attributable to a poor market performance for Auto Assault.

For the period ended July 30th, NCsoft posted sales of KRW 85.5 billion (69 million Euro), up 7 per cent on the same period in 2005 and primarily driven by the release of the Guild Wars: Factions expansion pack, launched in North America and Europe in April.

In spite of a strong performance by Guild Wars, which has enjoyed sales of KRW 16.4 billion (13.2 million Euro) and surpassed 2 million account activations during the quarter, NCsoft posted a net loss of KRW 200 million (161,500 Euro).

The loss has been attributed to a one-time write-off of non-tax deductible expenses relating to vehicular-based MMO title Auto Assault, approximated at KRW 12.6 billion (10.2 million Euro) - without which both operating income and pre-tax income grew by 64 per cent from the previous quarter, while operating income and pre-tax income declined by just 17 per cent and 11 per cent respectively from the previous year.

The company recently announced that it would be merging its US and European servers for the game in an effort to better populate the game world and enhance the experience for players, hoping this might also encourage more consumers to purchase and enjoy the title.

In terms of its regional growth and development, the publisher noted a marginal decline in Korean sales, down 3 per cent for a total of KRW 52.9 billion (42.7 million Euro), whilst year-on-year sales in North America and Europe grew by 10 per cent and 192 per cent respectively.

Looking forward, the company expects to continue its success with the Guild Wars franchise, and is launching the third campaign - Guild Wars Nightfall - later in the year. Additionally, closed Beta testing of MMORPG project Aion is expected to begin within the year and the company is also scheduled to launch eagerly anticipated MMO Tabula Rasa.