Neowiz announced on the 12th that in the first quarter, sales of about 76.6 billion won, operating profit of about 11.2 billion won, and net profit of 12.4 billion won were recorded.
In the first quarter of this year, sales increased by 7.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, but operating profit and net profit decreased by 16.6% and 40%, respectively. Sales in the first quarter were KRW 76.6 billion, up 7.3% from the same period last year. As a result of the expansion of the global performance of ‘Cat and Soup’, the operating profit margin also recovered to 15%.
Mobile division’s sales increased 5% QoQ to W36bn. After ‘Cat and Soup’ achieved 18 million global downloads, it recorded the highest sales in March, driving sales. Cats and soups are continuing their solid growth by harmonizing well with global art competitiveness and healing elements.
In particular, as it has established itself as a global intellectual property (IP), the licensing business is being actively carried out, while the next project using IP is also planned.
The console/PC division posted sales of W33.8bn, similar to the previous quarter. ‘Skull’ became the first Korean indie game to surpass 1 million copies sold in one year after its official release in January. Another indie game ‘Blade Assault’ was also newly introduced in January.
In the first quarter of this year, advertising sales from T&K Factory, which completed the merger with Neowiz subsidiary Addiscorp in December 2021, were fully reflected, and other sales increased significantly to 6.7 billion won. Neowiz plans to further strengthen its capabilities in the mobile advertising business market by creating synergies with T&K Factory.
In the second quarter, Neowiz also diversified its lineup by launching an idol-raising simulation game ‘Idolly Pride’ based on Japanese animation in Korea and an indie game ‘Unsould’ globally, including Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Game Pass. In addition, new products with individuality and competitiveness will be released sequentially.
‘Browndust Story’ and ‘Browndust & Puzzle’, two kinds of self-developed works using ‘Browndust’ IP, and another new collectible strategy RPG ‘Master of Knights’ are also preparing for release in the second half of the year. The healing adventure game ‘Aka’, which has recently signed a publishing contract, is also scheduled to be released within the fourth quarter. ‘Brown Dust 2’, whose play video was first released through an online showcase in March, is accelerating its development with the goal of releasing it in 2023.
Neowiz launched two types of ‘Crypto Golf Impact’ in April and ‘Brave Nine’ in May, and started full-fledged P&E (play and earn) service. We are considering collaboration with developers including our own lineup to introduce a variety of games with global competitiveness based on the inherent fun of games.
In addition, while promoting cooperation with a number of companies, such as participating in the ‘Bora’ governance council and investing in the blockchain-based game platform ‘ISKRA’ to expand the blockchain ecosystem, Neowiz is making various efforts to secure differentiated competitiveness. We plan to proceed.
