Nexon keeps thriving on games that are decades old

Asian gaming giant Nexon keeps on making money from games that are many years old, like Dungeon Fighter and Maple Story.

The Tokyo-based company reported third quarter revenues tonight of $533 million, up 36 percent from a year earlier, and net income of $172 million. Both exceeded the company’s outlook for the quarter.

The results were driven by Dungeon & Fighter, which had a big update in China; FIFA Online 3 M, AxE, and Maple Story 2. Results like this enable Nexon to expand on a worldwide basis, and it did so today by acquiring Pixelberry Studios, maker of High School Story. Nexon reportedly bid on Titanfall maker Respawn Entertainment, but it lost out to Electronic Arts.

Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon, at GamesBeat Summit 2017.

“Nexon had another very strong quarter with consistently strong performances in our core markets,” said Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon, in a statement. “Long-running successes like Maple Story and Dungeon & Fighter, along with sustained engagement on FIFA Online 3 and FIFA Online 3 M, validate our model of making games that last for years and decades.”

More than two years since its initial worldwide launch, DomiNations from Nexon’s Big Huge Games in Maryland saw revenue increase year-over-year in the third quarter.

Nexon gets about 77 percent of its revenues from the PC, and 23 percent from mobile. About 39 percent of revenue is generated in South Korea, and another 46 percent comes from China. North America is only about 4 percent of revenue, and Nexon keeps driving hard to change that percentage. Its long-term vision is to grow in the West through mergers and acquisitions. Nexon has more than $3 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and it has and 5,500 employees.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.