NCSoft Q1: Guild Wars 2 sales flatten but profits up

As new purchases of Guild Wars 2 tail off, publisher NCSoft has noted a dramatic drop in sales revenue - but is still very much back in the black after a few chancy years.

In its Q1 FY2013 report, Korean multi-national recorded total sales of ₩184,875 million, which is a 35% decrease from last quarter but a 31% increase year-on-year.

The quarterly sales decline is nothing to be alarmed by, as it is reactionary to the launch of Guild Wars 2 during the last quarter, which triggered a massive spike.

Still, sales are ongoing, and NCSoft noted that Lineage, Guild Wars 2 and Aion were its strongest performers, with Aion in particular surprising with a sudden upswing when we'd all given up on it. During the quarter, Lineage accounted for 38% of total sales (up from 24%), Guild Wars 2 accounted for 21% (down from a huge 45%), and Aion was responsible for 16% (up from 9%)

As a result of Guild Wars 2's tail off, sales shifted back to Asia. 64% of all sales originated in Korea 64%, up from a record low 43% in the previous quarter but both North America and Europe dropped drmaatically, from 25% to 13% and 18% to 8% respectively.

The company ended the quarter with operating profit of ₩55,512 million, down 51% from the previous quarter - but up a whopping 348% year on year.

Thanks, Massively.