Aion leading sales for NCsoft

It's one of the must-play MMOs of 2009 and not even out here yet. However Aion, which was released in Korea late last year, is driving sales for NCsoft, according to Gamasutra. The company held a conference call to discuss their sales figures and revealed Aion has generated 42.65 billion Korean won (around $34.57 million). The call also touched upon the game's growth, stating that the Korean beta started with 25 servers and that figure has now risen, post release, to 41.

Check out the full press release from NCsoft after the jump.
NCsoft Reports Earnings Results for Q1 2009

Company Exceeds Goals with Significant Increases Reported Quarter over Quarter

Seoul, South Korea -- May 11, 2009 -- NCsoft® Corporation (KSE: 036570.KS) today reported earnings results for 2009 Q1. On a consolidated basis, sales came to KRW 133.4 billion ($USD 107.7 million/€EUR 79.2 million), operating profit KRW 42.5 billion ($USD 34.3 million/€EUR 25.2 million), and net profit KRW 33.5 billion ($USD 27.0 million/€EUR 19.9 million). Sales, operating profit, and net profit showed sharp escalations with an increase of 34%, 221% and 422% respectively quarter over quarter (QoQ).

NCsoft explained that substantial increase in profit was based on solid maintenance of Lineage and Lineage II sales, in addition to Aion sales. The decrease in marketing spend and the narrow increase in operating costs QoQ (6%) resulted in the drastic growth of operating profit.

By region, first quarter sales came to KRW 89.2 billion in Korea ($USD 72.0 million/€EUR 53.0 million), KRW 10.8 billion in North America ($USD 8.7 million/€EUR 6.4 million) KRW 4 billion in Europe ($USD 3.2 million/€EUR 2.3 million), KRW 18.1 billion in Japan ($USD 14.6 million/€EUR 10.7 million), KRW 3.9 billion in Taiwan ($USD 3.1 million/€EUR 2.3 million), and KRW 7.4 billion ($USD 5.9 million/€EUR 4.3 million) from royalties. The successful launch of Aion influenced sales growth in and expected sales of the Lineage series increased the significance of . On the other hand, a decrease in Guild Wars sales due to no retail expansion package releases this quarter led to a drop of sales in the North American and European regions.

By game titles, sales of Lineage, Lineage II, Aion, City of Heroes®, and Guild Wars® increased 23%, 33%, 34%, 5% and 3% quarter to quarter to KRW 29.4 billion, KRW 41.1 billion, KRW 42.6 billion, 6.8 billion and KRW 4.3 billion respectively.

NCsoft's CFO Jaeho Lee said, "Aion has solidified its position as a new growth force without encroaching sales of the Lineage series. Starting with its service in in Q2, we are ready for a successful launch of this triple-A franchise in , , North America and Europe within the second half of the year."

NCsoft is expected to carry out large-scale updates for Lineage and Lineage II worldwide in the coming months. In Eastern territories NCsoft expects to begin beta tests for Punch Monster, Dragonica, Steel Dog and Metal Black within the year.

2009 Q1 Earnings Summary (Unit: KRW Mil)

	Q1, 09	Q4, 08	Q1, 08	QoQ	YoY
Sales	133,411	99,219	88,143	34%	51%
Operating Income	42,458	13,226	18,594	221%	128%
Pre-tax Profit	45,886	10,967	11,160	318%	311%
Net Income	33,541	6,423	8,074	422%	315%