Nexon America's Third Quarter Revenues Up 28 Percent

Maple Story publisher Nexon America reported a 28 percent jump in its revenues for the third quarter (ending September) compared to 2009, attributing the rise to audience growth in its free-to-play titles. Though the Los Angeles-based publisher did not provide specific numbers for its revenues, the increase continues an upward trend for Nexon America -- its revenues also shot up during the third quarter period in 2009 by 36 percent year-over-year. The company says revenues for September alone this year grew by 23 percent compared to September 2009, marking its 16th straight month of year-over-year increases. It points out that during the same 16 month period, sales for the video game console industry have been "sluggish". Nexon America's total number of registered users across its free-to-play titles surpassed 12 million during the third quarter as it rolled out "major updates" to games like Combat Arms, Maple Story, Mabinogi, and Dungeon Fighter Online. It ran new player referral and cross-promotional programs during the period, too. The publisher says its fourth quarter traditionally generates the most revenue for the year, and that it plans to launch a new free-to-play MMORPG, Vindictus (Mabinogi Heroes), on October 27th. Nexon America notes that Vindictus has enjoyed "one of the smoothest and most successful beta periods" it's seen. "All of our games have seen significant growth in customers and revenues,” says Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim. “Our formula of consistently delivering quality content on a regular basis helps us to maintain our player base, and expand it as well. Kim continues, "Our expertise at monetizing our content maintains a careful balance for players who want to pay for in-game items and those who enjoy the totally-free aspects of our games. Our business model and content have clearly hit the right note for players."