On the surface, fourth quarter 2016 financials for MMORPG giant NCsoft look solid. Yesterday, the company released its investor report, highlighting hefty year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter growth in sales and operating profit, both setting records for the studio.
Among NCsoft’s chief games, Lineage as always drives performance, significantly so this quarter, but Lineage II, Aion, Blade and Soul, and Guild Wars 2 held more or less steady over their previous quarters too, though Aion and GW2 are down year-over-year.
Of note, WildStar’s performance is no longer being reported separately, so we can no longer track its downward trends; it’s now bundled unceremoniously into “other sales” — not a good sign, but presumably better than the alternative.
During the investor call, the company reported that Master X Master is expected to launch here by summer, while the global open beta and launch for Lineage Eternal will follow a Korean beta this year. MMO Culture notes that NCsoft’s North American division is plotting a simultaneous mobile launch of Lineage Eternal. Work on four other mobile MMOs — Blade & Soul Mobile, Lineage M, and Aion Legions — continues, with the former two suffering delays.
