Nexon sees a 6.5% increase in revenue, reaching $3.1 billion in 2025, fueled by the continued success of Arc Raiders

Image credit: Embark Studios/Nexon

Nexon, the publisher of Arc Raiders, announced that its 2025 financial results have set a new revenue record for the third year running.

The company has credited this revenue surge to the success of its Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory series, along with Arc Raiders, which has reached over 14 million units sold.

Financial Overview

Revenue: ¥475.1 billion (approximately $3.1 billion), indicating a 6.5% rise compared to the previous year
Operating income: ¥124 billion (around $809.4 million), showing a slight decline of 0.1% from the prior year
Net income: ¥92.05 billion (approximately $601.2 million), marking a decrease of 31.7% year-over-year

Key Developments

The last quarter saw revenue grow by 55% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching ¥123.6 billion (around $807.2 million), while the operating income was ¥7.2 billion ($47.2 million).

Nonetheless, operating income did not meet Nexon's expectations due to "higher-than-anticipated costs." These expenses included performance-linked bonuses related to Arc Raiders as well as greater platform fees as a result of the new games' success.

Arc Raiders, developed by Embark Studios, was launched in October 2025 and has been termed as the "most successful new release in Nexon's history," according to CEO Junghun Lee.

As of January 2026, the game tallied over 14 million copies sold and saw peak engagement with 960,000 simultaneous players.

Nexon’s numbers for the fourth quarter consisted of a one-time impairment loss of ¥3 billion and revenue deferral of ¥27.7 billion ($180.9 million) from Arc Raiders. Over half of this will be acknowledged in the first quarter of 2026, supplemented by reimbursements from MapleStory Idle RPG.

These financial shifts lowered fourth-quarter revenue and operating income by ¥9 billion ($58.7 million) and ¥4 billion ($26 million), respectively.

Throughout the year, the MapleStory franchise experienced a 43% jump, recording its most lucrative year in over two decades, buoyed by increased activity in Korea, geographic growth, and new releases.

Despite PC sales for Dungeon & Fighter seeing double-digit growth in 2025, the overall franchise revenue fell by 21% due to a downturn in its mobile version.

Nexon anticipates first-quarter revenue in the range of ¥150.5 billion ($982.9 million) to ¥164 billion ($1.07 billion), equating to a 32% to 44% increase year-on-year.

CEO Junghun Lee stated, "We are very pleased with our record-breaking revenue for 2025. Arc Raiders continues to draw and retain players even 15 weeks post-launch in October."

He added, "The game's performance surpasses our loftiest expectations. Beyond just numbers, Arc Raiders serves as a key element of our strategy for global growth, exemplifying that Nexon possesses the creative, operational, and live management prowess to handle large-scale global releases."

Lee concluded, "Coupled with our ability to innovate and enhance our core franchises, we step into this year as a more diversified, sustainable, and globally capable enterprise."