NCSoft shares have taken a 15% nosedive following the launch of Aion 2.

As of 9:43 AM on the 19th, NCSoft is trading at 190,600 won, a sharp drop of 33,900 won (15%) from the previous day. While the domestic gaming industry often sees shares dip upon a major release, this particular slide is quite staggering even by those standards.

NCSoft officially kicked off the service for Aion 2 on the 19th. This title was meant to be the company's grand comeback—a crucial project to reverse their recent financial slump and bolster future revenue and operating profits. With an operating loss of 109.2 billion won in 2024 and a stock low of 134,600 won back in April, it was essentially the hype surrounding Aion 2 that had kept the company’s valuation afloat.

However, the mood soured quickly. Reports of server instability at launch and a wave of backlash regarding the game's monetization have spooked investors. Some are already suggesting that the game failed to meet the market's high expectations and lacks the weight to carry the company's future.

For what it's worth, Shinhan Investment Corp had already sounded the alarm back in October. Ahead of the Q3 earnings report, they predicted that "profit recovery would be limited even with the launch of Aion 2." They maintained a 'Hold' rating, warning that a failure of Aion 2 would cast serious doubt on the developer's core competencies.