Neowiz saw an increase in its Q1 revenue, but operating profit declined. While mobile titles like 'Brown Dust 2' contributed to growth, the bottom line was impacted by increased development personnel costs, higher commission fees resulting from mobile revenue growth, and increased marketing expenses.

Neowiz announced its Q1 2026 financial results on the 11th, prepared under K-IFRS. The company's Q1 revenue was 101.4 billion KRW, a 14% increase year-on-year and a 5% decrease quarter-on-quarter. Operating profit was 7 billion KRW, a 32% decrease year-on-year, while net income reached 15.5 billion KRW, a 153% increase year-on-year, reflecting the effects of foreign exchange gains due to the high exchange rate.

PC and console game revenue was 39.5 billion KRW, a 9% increase year-on-year. This was driven by 'Shape of Dreams' and 'Lies of P: Prelude'; 'Lies of P' maintained steady sales through global discount events in March. 'Shape of Dreams' surpassed 1 million units in cumulative sales, contributing to the year-on-year revenue increase.

Mobile game revenue was 51.4 billion KRW, a 13% increase year-on-year. 'Brown Dust 2' contributed to growth as some revenue from its 2.5-anniversary event in Q4 was deferred to Q1, and it maintained traffic through a 1,000-day anniversary live stream and special skin event in March. Web-board games saw a rebound in Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU) due to regulatory easing, such as the increase in spending limits implemented in February. Other revenue was 10.5 billion KRW, up 45% year-on-year.

Operating expenses for Q1 were 94.5 billion KRW, a 19.9% increase year-on-year. This was influenced by an 8.2% rise in labor costs due to new project development, a 41.5% increase in variable costs including commissions, and a 31.1% increase in marketing expenses. Neowiz plans to continue major IP events and fandom activities in Q2, while accelerating the development of various self-developed new titles, including the 'Lies of P' sequel, the life simulation 'Project CF', the story-driven RPG 'Project Rubicon', and the soul-like 'Project Windy'.

 

Meanwhile, in accordance with the mid-to-long-term shareholder return policy announced last January, Neowiz executed a shareholder return of approximately 12 billion KRW, which is 20% of its 2025 consolidated operating profit of 60 billion KRW. This return consisted of approximately 6 billion KRW in cash dividends and approximately 6 billion KRW in share buybacks and subsequent cancellation.