General Discussion

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that NCsoft saw a 50% drop in their net income, based on 3rd quarter financial results released by the game publisher.

MMO publisher NCsoft has revealed results for the third quarter of the financial year, ended September 30, reporting a 50 per cent drop in net income year-on-year.

The Korean publisher put its net income at KRW 5 billion (USD 3 million) down from KRW 6.6 billion (USD 4.8 million) the previous quarter and significantly down from KRW 10 billion (USD 7 million) for the same period last year.

The poor result is reflected in the company's operating income, which also fell almost 50 per cent, from KRW 7.9 billion (USD 5.8 million) to KRW 4.5 billion (USD 3.3 million). The company experienced an overall sales decline to KR 78,270,000,000.00 (USD 57.6 million) from KR 81,201,000,000.00 (USD 59.6 million).

Read more here.

Aion will save them.

It's the first game in a very long time I have been excited about and this goes for almost everyone else who has seen or tried it. So polished, so beautiful and the flow of the game is very impressive.

Also that the style isn't all asian in the looks is a huge plus in my book.

thats a pretty big lose tho. i hope aion can save them

Lol, aion will turn them instantly into a blizzard company from all the $ they shall be making. :-O

  They were already a Blizzard type company with their Lineage franchise. Aion is probably going to drag them underwater and drown them :P

It will drag them up the surface, and onto a new land, a new era! ... of wealth, XD. :]

They ignored guaranteed bestseller franchise (Lineage 3) to make completely pointless no-name games that came back biting them.

Originally posted by kishe

They ignored guaranteed bestseller franchise (Lineage 3) to make completely pointless no-name games that came back biting them.

You make a pretty big assumption in thinking the name means everything in an MMO. There was little reason to release "lineage3" when Lineage2 still had a huge following. A company has to take chances to make money, and  most of the time they end up losing more then gaining. Not every company can be like Blizzard and live off of one franchise for over 10 years.

If name meant everything, Everquest II would be stronger than WoW. And Richard Garriotts Tabula Rasa would've been their new hit...

Name may be a good starter, but it's a poor sticker. People will join a game for its name. They won't necessarily stay for long when there ain't no good game behind it.

I wish we knew more like is this a developement cycle thats dragging them down or a week  currency , or loss of sales only?

as with any business there can be several factors that can explain but reporters just go for the one big line.