Krafton, Nexon and Other Korean Publishers Face Softer Q3 Profits

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Several of Korea’s biggest game companies are heading into a weaker third quarter, even after a strong first half of 2026. Projections from financial data firm FnGuide point to rising costs, slower momentum from existing hits, and gaps between major releases weighing on profits at Krafton, Nexon, Netmarble, Kakao Games, and NCSoft.

Krafton and Nexon are still expected to post big sales numbers, but operating profit is the pressure point. Analysts expect Krafton’s third-quarter revenue to rise 34.6% year over year to 1.17 trillion won, while operating profit drops 13.9% to 300.2 billion won. The slowdown is being tied to softer PUBG growth and fading early momentum from Subnautica 2 after its previous-quarter launch.

  • Krafton is coming off a record first half, with 2.6616 trillion won in sales and 972.5 billion won in operating profit, but Q3 is expected to fall from Q2 levels.
  • Nexon’s own Q3 guidance calls for revenue of 120.7 billion to 133.4 billion yen, roughly 1.0143 trillion to 1.1211 trillion won, with operating profit down 14% to 40% year over year.
  • Nexon cited higher fees, royalties, cloud and software costs, labor costs, and marketing for second-half launches as reasons for weaker profitability.
  • NCSoft is projected at 701 billion won in Q3 sales and 98 billion won in operating profit, down sharply from the previous quarter despite improving year over year.
  • Netmarble is expected to see both sales and profit decline year over year, while Kakao Games is forecast to remain in the red with a 28.8 billion won operating loss.

NCSoft’s first-half improvement came from AION2 in Korea and Taiwan and Lineage Classic, but analysts expect Q3 to soften as major game sales settle and one-time China-related payments from Q2 drop out. The company may see more of AION2’s global launch reflected from Q4, after its Aug. 5 release in North America, South America, Europe, and Japan.

The broader mood around Korea’s games business is also cooling. KOCCA’s third-quarter game industry corporate business index came in at 98.1, below the neutral line of 100, meaning more companies said conditions worsened than improved. The fourth-quarter outlook was 99.2, suggesting publishers aren’t expecting a quick rebound.

For now, the common problem is simple enough: reliable games are still making money, but new launches, overseas expansion, marketing, and tech costs are eating into margins.