NCSOFT Corp., a leading South Korean game developer and publisher, is gearing up for a major global expansion next year with several new releases after narrowing its third-quarter losses on higher PC game sales and royalty income from overseas.
The company said on Tuesday that its foray into global markets will gather full momentum in 2026, led by Aion 2.
Aion 2 is set to launch in Korea and Taiwan at midnight on Nov. 19, with pre-downloads and character customization available from Nov. 16.
“Pre-registrations have already exceeded expectations,” NCSOFT co-Chief Executive Park Byung-moo said on the same day, adding that focus group testing in North America and Europe in September and October received “positive feedback comparable to Korea and Taiwan.”
Chief Financial Officer Hong Won-jun also said 2026 will mark NCSOFT’s “full-scale global offensive,” with three additional titles such as Limit Zero Breakers, Time Takers and Cinder City scheduled for international rollout.
At the G-Star 2025 game show opening in Busan on Nov. 13, NCSOFT will unveil new titles across a 300-booth exhibition space as a main sponsor.
GLOBAL AMBITION WILL GAIN TRACTION
As part of its expansion, NCSOFT plans to relaunch Lineage W in Southeast Asia in the first half of 2026 and extend the title’s service to North America and Russia, Hong said.
Its flagship massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) – Lineage M and Lineage 2M – are preparing for release in China, while the company is co-developing Aion Mobile with Shengqu Games, slated for local launch in 2026, he added.
Park also unveiled that NCSOFT will also showcase a next-generation MMO title at this year’s G-Star.
While the company hasn’t revealed details, industry sources speculate it could be a collaboration with Sony Interactive Entertainment based on the Horizon Zero Dawn franchise.
M&A AND INVESTMENT PLANS
Alongside its new titles, NCSOFT is broadening its portfolio through acquisitions and publishing partnerships.
Park said the company plans to invest in and publish a subculture-style (anime-inspired) game set for release in late 2026 or early 2027, along with another MMORPG project.
The company has also decided to acquire a technology platform developer and two mobile casual game studios, including one in Korea and one overseas, to ramp up its content pipeline, the company CEO said.
“We are also in serious talks with several major companies about potential acquisitions and publishing deals,” Park added.
NCSOFT has introduced its own in-app payment system for mobile games to bypass app marketplaces.
The feature will be applied to Lineage M and Lineage 2M this week and to Lineage W later this month.
Q3 EARNINGS FARE BETTER
For the quarter ended September 2025, NCSOFT reported an operating loss of 7.5 billion won ($5.1 million), narrowing from a 14.3 billion won loss a year earlier.
Consolidated revenue fell 10% year-over-year to 360 billion won, as mobile game sales declined 10% from the previous quarter to 197.2 billion won, accounting for 55% of total revenue.
PC game revenue, however, rose 9% to 87.7 billion won, reflecting steady demand for online titles.
Major contributors included Lineage M (105.3 billion won), Lineage 2M (47.2 billion won), Lineage W (43.4 billion won), Lineage (25.2 billion won), Lineage 2 (21.6 billion won) and Guild Wars 2 (18.4 billion won).
The company also saw higher royalty income from overseas, which helped narrow quarterly losses.
NCSOFT posted a net profit of 347.4 billion won, reversing earlier losses, aided by a one-off gain from the sale of its former Seoul headquarters building.
The company expects new IPs, overseas launches and PC growth to offset weaker mobile performance next year as it seeks a broader international footprint and a more diversified revenue base.
