Nexon posts record first-half sales of W2.5tr on MapleStory, ARC Raiders success

Nexon achieved record first-half sales, driven by strong performances from MapleStory and ARC Raiders.

The company said Thursday that its consolidated first-half sales reached 2.56 trillion won ($1.81 billion), or 273.3 billion yen, with operating profit of 837.9 billion won (89.4 billion yen).

Both figures marked year-on-year increases — sales up 17 percent and operating profit up 13 percent compared with the same period last year. Net profit surged 102 percent over the same period to 813.7 billion won (86.9 billion yen).

For the second quarter alone, Nexon posted sales of 1.14 trillion won (121.1 billion yen), operating profit of 294.3 billion won (31.3 billion yen) and net profit of 278.8 billion won (29.6 billion yen).

Nexon credited the MapleStory franchise and ARC Raiders as the engines behind the record results. The two games' simultaneous success in the previous quarter diversified its revenue structure, allowing Nexon to further expand its global growth base in the second quarter.

The MapleStory franchise strengthened its original PC title in line with the intellectual property expansion strategy unveiled at the Capital Markets Briefing 2026 (CMB 2026) in March. The franchise also reshaped the player experience through new formats and genres, including user-generated content (UGC) and a mobile casual action role-playing game (RPG).

PC MapleStory performed consistently across South Korea, North America and Europe, led by a major summer update in June, Nexon said. Domestic sales rose 7 percent year-on-year. The UGC platform MapleStory World saw second-quarter sales jump 123 percent compared with the same period last year.

ARC Raiders also contributed to the results. The game surpassed 16.3 million cumulative copies sold within nine months of its launch, cementing its status as a next-generation IP, Nexon said.

Backed by two consecutive quarters of growth from the MapleStory franchise and ARC Raiders, Nexon's revenue from Western markets more than tripled year-on-year in the first half, the company said. Sales from other regions, including Southeast Asia, rose 76 percent, pushing total overseas revenue to a record high on a half-year basis.

Cumulative first-half PC and console sales also rose 27 percent year-on-year, driven by global growth centered on Western markets.

Going forward, Nexon plans to strengthen its major intellectual properties by drawing on the expertise built through the MapleStory franchise.

The company will first work to lay the groundwork for a revival of the Dungeon & Fighter franchise. Nexon said the June update for the PC version of Dungeon & Fighter in China improved engagement metrics among its core user base, and it plans to sustain that recovery through a National Day update in September and new raid content. A major update for the Korean PC service is also planned for this month.

New titles in the Dungeon & Fighter IP pipeline will begin rolling out in the second half. The company plans to release the mobile idle RPG Dungeon & Fighter: Grow this year, followed by the PC 2D action RPG Dungeon & Fighter Classic next year. Also in development are Project Overkill, a PC and console 3D action RPG, and Dungeon & Fighter: Arad, an open-world action RPG for PC, mobile and console.

Dave the Diver, which has surpassed 8 million cumulative copies sold worldwide, will also expand its IP. Following the release of its first major paid DLC, In the Jungle, in June, Nexon plans to launch a mobile version of Dave the Diver in global markets in September.

Nexon also plans to release several new internally developed titles. The MMORPG Temppal: Overgeared, based on a popular web novel and webtoon IP, is set to launch in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao this year. The fantasy world RPG Azure Promilia is also planned for a domestic release.

The multiplayer PvPvE zombie survival game Nakwon: Last Paradise is scheduled for a global launch next year.

"We delivered solid earnings in the second quarter, supported by the continued growth of the MapleStory franchise and ARC Raiders' steady contribution," said Lee Jung-hun, CEO of Nexon's Japan subsidiary. "From the second half onward, we will diversify our pipeline with new titles across a range of genres and expansions of our established IP titles, while reinforcing our growth momentum through major updates to key titles."