이 기사는 2021년 12월 17일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean game giant Nexon has quadrupled in value a decade after its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2011.

Nexon debuted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 14, 2011. The company’s stock began trading at 1,307 yen ($11.45) on its debut, with its market capitalization reaching about 550 billion yen. In December 2020, the Korean game publisher’s market capitalization exceeded 2.84 trillion yen, becoming the second most valuable game stock in Japan after Nintendo.

In 2012, Nexon began preparing for its mobile game business. Nexon merged with its subsidiary Nexon Mobile in May of that year and acquired the entirety of Japan-based mobile game developer Gloops in a bid to secure development capabilities for various genres of mobile games, ranging from social games to trading card games (TCG) and role-playing games (RPG).

In 2015, Nexon strengthened its competitiveness in mobile game business, by acquiring Boolean Games, the developer of the popular Dark Avenger mobile RPG. This enabled the company to boost development capabilities and secure attractive intellectual property.

In the same year, Nexon invested in Nat Games, a developer of high-quality mobile games including HIT, V4, and OverHit. HIT, which was first launched in Korea in November 2015, took the top spot on Google Play and the iOS App Store’s top grossing rankings immediately after its release.

Nexon continued to release hit mobile games in 2017, including massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) AxE, Dark Avenger 3, and collectible RPG, OverHit.

Nexon recorded revenue of 234.9 billion yen and an operating profit of 90.5 billion yen, becoming the first game publisher in the country to surpass 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in annual revenue, thanks to big success of new mobile games and FIFA Online 3 and Maple Story. The company invested in mobile game developer Supercat in 2018.

Last year, Nexon recorded the largest-ever revenue, surpassing an annual revenue of 3 trillion won for the first time in the domestic gaming industry. The company’s mobile game business also delivered best-ever revenue of 1.04 trillion won thanks to V4, KartRider Rush, Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon, and FIFA Mobile.

Nexon CEO Lee Jung-hun has led the company based on a selection and concentration strategy, especially focusing on enhancing its live service capability. As a result, the company could achieve the balanced growth in both PC and mobile games.

Upcoming titles in the pipeline include Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, to be launched in the first quarter of 2022.

The company plans to add more than 1,000 employees by next year to beef up its research and development activities and investments. It has restructured its compensation system to minimize talent exodus. Nexon’s Intelligence Labs, a department dedicated to studying high-tech solutions, currently has more than 500 employees. (Reporting by Won-ji Hwang)