Nexon sales slip in Q3

Nexon today released its quarterly earnings report for the three months ended September 30, and the results showed a downward trend in sales almost across the board.

Revenue was down 24% year-over-year to ¥52.36 billion ($479.2 million), with steep declines across all its major markets except one. Nexon's largest market, Korea, saw revenues tick up 2% for the quarter, driven by strong performances from FIFA Online 4 and MapleStory M.

The company's second-largest market, China, suffered the largest decline, with revenues down 43% year-over-year primarily due to the performance of its PC online title Dungeon&Fighter. An 11th anniversary update to Dungeon&Fighter in June "was not received well by users," the company said, and updates and in-game events since then have been unable to boost the number of paying users.

Worldwide, the company's PC gaming business saw sales drop 27% year-over-year, with mobile game revenues sliding 15%.

While the company's sales may be struggling, its bottom line improved, with third quarter net income up 79% year-over-year to ¥39.84 billion ($364.6 million). However, the company noted that more than a third of that net income was attributable to foreign exchange rates.

For the fourth quarter, Nexon expects to post revenues down 4% to 10% year-over-year, with net income up 16% to 45% in the ¥7.57 billion ($69.3 million) to ¥9.42 billion ($86.2 million) range.