▲ Kakao Games logo
Kakao Games, which has experienced a prolonged absence of major hit new releases, saw its losses widen significantly in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
The Kosdaq-listed company announced in a regulatory filing on August 5 that its preliminary consolidated operating loss for the second quarter stood at 23 billion won, showing an increased deficit compared to an operating loss of 8.6 billion won in the same period last year.
Revenue dropped 35.2% year-on-year to 75.0 billion won.
Net loss also expanded, coming in at 57.0 billion won.
Breaking down revenue by platform, mobile revenue fell 47.8% year-on-year to 52.7 billion won, while PC revenue rose 50.5% to 22.3 billion won.
Operating expenses for the second quarter decreased 21.2% year-on-year to 98.0 billion won.
Labor costs increased by 6.2% due to one-off retirement expenses, but commission fees declined in tandem with lower game revenues, and marketing expenses shrank by 58.7% through efficient execution.
Kakao Games plans to roll out "World of Dokkaebi," "ArcheAge Chronicles," and "Dungeon Arise" in the fourth quarter of this year.
This will be followed by the releases of "Odin Q: Valkyrie Scol" and "God Save Birmingham" in the first quarter of next year, and "Chrono Odyssey" and "ArcheAge S: Straits of Freedom" in the second quarter.
Lionheart Studio's training simulation "Project C," originally slated for release in the fourth quarter of this year, has been changed back to "release date to be determined," while "Chrono Odyssey" has also been delayed by one quarter.
Kakao Games, which recently launched a co-CEO system led by Lee Si-woo and Kim Tae-hwan, stated that it will carry out comprehensive business restructuring under the new management system in the third quarter to strengthen the foundation for sustainable future growth.
Kakao Games added that it is striving to enhance shareholder value by establishing and implementing mid- to long-term shareholder return policies, starting with the cancellation of 500,000 treasury shares, alongside introducing restricted stock units (RSUs) for executives and employees, transferring capital reserves to retained earnings to secure financial resources for shareholder returns, and having management purchase treasury shares.
"Moving forward, we will focus on presenting high-quality games with high potential for success to the global market and solidify our internal stability for sustainable growth," said Kakao Games CEO Lee Si-woo. "We will sequentially unveil new titles reorganized around market competitiveness and transparently continue communicating with users and shareholders."
(Photo: Logo at the Kakao Games office building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Yonhap News)
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