9) NCsoft
$288 million
NCsoft is a South Korean developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online games. Its most notable game is Lineage, which was a primary driver of revenue in 2016, seeing a 41% jump in sales quarter-over-quarter. Steady sales for its other titles – Aion, Blade and Soul, and Guild Wars – also helped to boost growth by 17% year-over-year for 2016.
However, 2017 has been a mixed bag for NCsoft, so far. Revenue for its most lucrative PC games has tumbled across Q1 and Q2, with the second its weakest quarter in years. NCsoft attributes this to “less promotions and some user attrition from stronger-than-expected Lineage M success.” Lineage M is the publisher’s mobile Lineage spin-off, and it is mobile where its revenue has soared. In fact, Lineage M has driven overall profits up by approximately 8%, an increase both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. The results highlight the disparity between development and operating costs of PC games versus mobile, with lower cost mobile games returning higher percentages of profit.
NCSoft is not abandoning traditional gaming, though, as the publisher plans to bring Blade & Soul to consoles in North America.