Nexon revenue rises 6.5% to $3.1bn in 2025, driven by ongoing success of Arc Raiders

Arc Raiders publisher Nexon has released its 2025 earnings, reporting record-breaking revenue for the third consecutive year.

The company attributes this growth to its Dungeon & Fighter and MapleStory franchises, as well as Arc Raiders, which has sold over 14 million copies to date.

The numbers

• Revenue: ¥475.1 billion ($3.1 billion), up 6.5% year-over-year
• Operating income: ¥124 billion ($809.4 million), down 0.1% year-over-year
• Net income: ¥92.05 billion ($601.2 million), down 31.7% year-over-year

The highlights

Fourth quarter revenue rose 55% year-over-year to ¥123.6 billion ($807.2 million), while operating income reached ¥7.2 billion ($47.2 million).

Operating income was below Nexon’s year-end outlook due to “higher-than-expected costs.” These included performance-based bonuses tied to Arc Raiders and increased platform fees driven by the strong performance of new titles.

Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders, released in October 2025, was the “biggest new game launch in Nexon’s history”, according to CEO Junghun Lee.

The extraction shooter has sold over 14 million copies to date and reached a peak of 960,000 concurrent users in January 2026.

Nexon’s fourth quarter revenue and operating income included a one-time impairment loss of ¥3 billion and a ¥27.7 billion ($180.9 million) deferral of Arc Raiders revenue. More than half of this deferral will be recognised in Q1 2026, along with refunds from MapleStory Idle RPG.

These adjustments reduced fourth quarter revenue and operating income by ¥9 billion ($58.7 million) and ¥4 billion ($26 million), respectively.

For the full year, Nexon’s MapleStory franchise earnings increased by 43%, reaching its highest annual revenue in 22 years. This growth was driven by “recovery in Korea, regional expansion, and new titles.”

Dungeon & Fighter achieved double-digit revenue growth on PC in 2025; however, a decline in the mobile edition resulted in a 21% overall decrease in franchise earnings.

Looking ahead, Nexon projects first quarter revenue between ¥150.5 billion ($982.9 million) and ¥164 billion ($1.07 billion), representing a 32% to 44% year-over-year increase.

“We are extremely pleased to report record-breaking revenue for full year 2025,” said Nexon CEO Junghun Lee. “Arc Raiders is still growing and sustaining engagement 15 weeks after the October launch.

“The game has exceeded our most optimistic projections. Beyond the metrics, Arc Raiders is a proof point in our global expansion strategy, demonstrating Nexon has the creative teams, operating model, and live operations capability to sustain global releases at scale.”

Lee concluded: “Together with our proven ability to renew and grow core franchises, we have entered the new year as a more diversified, durable, and globally competitive company.”