Seven Knights creator Netmarble has revealed the results of its fourth quarter alongside a summary of its 2023 fiscal year, disclosing a 65% decline in net loss from ₩886 billion ($668 million) to ₩313 billion ($236 million) year-on-year.
While further solidifying 2023 as the challenging year that it was, Netmarble did see a stronger performance in Q4 - the quarter bringing in more than half of its 2023 total alone with ₩195 billion ($147 million) in net loss, Netmarble showed financial improvement with a positive operating income.
Back on track
Q4 proved the most lucrative of the year for Netmarble, yielding ₩665 billion ($502 million) in revenue at a 5.4% quarter-on-quarter increase and continuing the upward trajectory seen throughout 2023 since a weaker Q1. However, even after the climb, Q4 was still down 3.2% year-on-year.
EBITDA, at least, saw a strong percentage increase, up by a huge 146.5% quarter-on-quarter and 69.2% year-on-year to ₩60.4 billion ($46 million). Operating profit also climbed out of the negatives for the first time in over a year, ending 2023 at 2.7% compared to -3.5% last Q4.
Earnings from Netmarble’s RPGs saw a rise in particular, up 11% as a genre between Q1 and Q4, and now comprising 38% of the company’s gaming revenue. Casual games, meanwhile, fell in their share from 47% in Q1 to 43% in Q4.
And looking at individual games, Netmarble has attributed its successful last quarter to its biggest game Marvel Contest of Champions, and to the recently launched Seven Knights Idle Adventure, which helped push Netmarble to becoming the second-biggest Korean mobile publisher.
Other top revenue generators included Jackpot World, Lotsa Slots and Cash Frenzy.
Backwards and forwards
83% of Netmarble’s revenue came from overseas in 2023, and while Q4 showed signs of a return to form for earnings, it wasn’t enough alone to make up for a troubled year. Overall revenues were down 6.4% from 2022 to ₩2,501.4 billion ($1.9 billion). EBITDA fell by the same amount, down to ₩115.8 billion ($87 million).
Even so, Netmarble has big plans looking ahead to 2024, with five game launches on the horizon in H1. Among them, Arthdal Chronicles: Three Factions and Raven 2 will release in Korea and specific eastern territories, meanwhile Solo Leveling: Arise and King Arthur: Legends Rise will see global launches.
The popular Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is also set for launch in China.
Notably all five upcoming releases fall into the RPG genre, suggesting growth in its revenue proportion could continue to increase for Netmarble. After all, the genre is dominating consumer spending across the industry right now.
