Nexon celebrates record success with Arc Raiders, marking its most successful global launch to date
Nexon has released its financial results for the third quarter, showing that while its flagship franchises maintained solid performance, both revenue and operating income saw declines.
Financial Summary
For the quarter ending September 30, 2025
- Revenue: ¥118.7 billion ($767 million, a decrease of 12% compared to last year)
- Operating Income: ¥37.5 billion ($242.3 million, a decrease of 27% compared to last year)
- Net Income: ¥38.2 billion ($247 million, an increase of 41% compared to last year)
Key Insights
The company's total revenue fell by 12%, influenced by the 2024 releases of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China and The First Descendant.
Operating income was down 27%, which was anticipated by the company.
Net income surpassed expectations, reaching ¥38.2 billion ($247 million), benefiting from a ¥9.2 billion gain ($59.5 million) unlike the ¥19.6 billion ($126.7 million) loss in the prior year’s same period.
In its portfolio, Embark Studios' Arc Raiders has set a new record as Nexon's "most successful global launch". Since its debut on October 30, the game has sold over four million copies.
The game peaked at over 700,000 players simultaneously on Steam in its second week and was third on Steam's global wishlists earlier this year.
Nexon's CEO Junghun Lee stated, "With fresh content planned through 2026, we are confident Arc Raiders will be a long-lasting addition to our lineup of major global franchises."
Embark's game, The Finals, saw revenue surge by 58% year-over-year during the third quarter, credited to the season 8 update in September.
A collaboration with Tencent is developing a Chinese version, with open beta slated to start on November 18, which is expected to bolster future results for Nexon.
Dungeon & Fighter's overall revenue dropped by 45% compared to the previous year due to the mobile launch in 2024.
Nonetheless, the mobile edition registered sequential growth thanks to several updates.
The PC game observed a 72% annual increase in Q3, propelled by favorable player responses to content updates, and experienced "double-digit growth" in China.
MapleStory's revenue increased by 61% year-on-year, and Nexon anticipates a 40% year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter, motivated by a renewal in Korea's market and the impending release of MapleStory: Idle RPG on November 6.
Recently, Nexon's CEO Lee stated it's crucial to assume all gaming companies are employing AI, addressing criticism about AI usage in Arc Raiders.
He noted, "If everyone uses similar technology, surviving depends on choosing a strategy that raises competitiveness."
These remarks come amid discussions about AI voice use in Arc Raiders, which faced criticism in Eurogamer's review, rating the game at 2 out of 5.