Nexon profit jumps 118% as Arc Raiders and MapleStory drive growth

Nexon’s first quarter looked explosive on the surface, with net income jumping 118% year over year to ¥57.2 billion, but the bigger story is how much of that surge came from real game performance. The company said the quarter included a ¥14.5 billion foreign-exchange gain, a sharp reversal from a ¥4.2 billion FX loss a year earlier, yet revenue still climbed to ¥152.2 billion and operating income reached ¥58.2 billion, both well ahead of last year even after other drag factors were stripped out.

That balance matters. Nexon said refunds tied to MapleStory: Idle RPG reduced Q1 revenue by ¥6.7 billion and operating income by ¥3.5 billion, which means the company’s core business had to absorb a meaningful hit and still grow hard. On a constant-currency basis, revenue was up 26% and operating income rose 28%, showing the quarter was not just a currency story. Nexon also said its March 31 Capital Markets Briefing laid out a transformation plan focused on growth and margin improvement, and this quarter is the first clear evidence that plan is starting to bite.

Arc Raiders was the standout on the content side. Nexon said the game sold an additional 4.6 million units in the quarter, pushing cumulative sales to 15.5 million units before later crossing 16 million worldwide. Nexon called it the most successful new product release in the company’s history. The company also said Frozen Trail would be its largest update yet, with premium content scheduled for October, extending the run rather than treating the title as a one-off launch spike.

MapleStory remains the other pillar. Nexon said the franchise grew 42% year over year, powered by MapleStory: Idle RPG and MapleStory Worlds, even with the refund issue weighing on reported results. Western regions did the heaviest lifting, with North America and Europe revenue up 310% year over year and Rest of World revenue up 111%, a sign that Nexon’s growth is broadening well beyond its traditional base in Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan.

The near-term picture is less smooth. Nexon said Q2 will be its softest quarter of the year because of Dungeon & Fighter headwinds, but it still expects multiple catalysts in the second half. For now, the durable part of the quarter is easy to spot: Arc Raiders is scaling fast, MapleStory is still monetizing, and Nexon is beginning to show that a legacy live-service giant can pair old strengths with a breakout new hit without leaning only on FX luck to make the numbers shine.