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Nexon sees Q1 2014 mobile game sales down 4% to $70 million

Accounts for 15% of overall revenue

Nexon sees Q1 2014 mobile game sales down 4% to $70 million

Korea-based, Japan-floated F2P publisher Nexon (3659.TO) has announced its Q1 2014 financials for the three months ending 31 March 2014.

Total revenues were $461 million, up 7 percent year-on-year.

Mobile games made up 15 percent of Nexon's sales, with revenue of $70 million.

This was down 4 percent year-on-year, but up 7 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Net income was $157 million, up 7 percent.

Korean boom

Key titles during the quarter were an update to PC game Dungeon&Fighter, which boosted revenue in China - Nexon's main market.

In Korea, PC titles FIFA Online 3 and Sudden Attack  had strong quarters.

In terms of mobile, Nexon released five titles in Korea, including companion game FIFA Online 3 M, and five mobile games in Japan, although only two of these were native smartphone games.

The majority of Nexon's mobile sales come from Japanese browser-based games: a result of the company's $470 million acquisition of Gloops in 2012.

Slipping down

Regionally, sales were down 36 percent in Europe, 18 percent in Japan, 15 percent in North America and 8 percent in China on a constant currency rating.

In that regard, Nexon's earnings growth was due to a combination of the continuing weakness of the Japanese Yen and 44 percent growth in the Korean market.

Better, richer

"Going forward, we will sharpen our focus on quality across all platforms," said CEO Owen Mahoney.

"At our core we are in a creative industry, and the only way to succeed is to create high-quality games that deliver fun and unique gaming experiences to our players around the world."

Nexon expects its mobile revenues to rise between 2-10 percent during Q2 2014 to over $72 million.

[source: Nexon IR (PDF)]

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A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.