Game developer Nexon announced Friday that its Tokyo-listed shares have climbed to a new all-time high, pushing its market capitalization above 3.1 trillion yen ($19.8 billion).
On Thursday, Nexon’s stock closed at 3,768 yen, continuing its upward trend to an unprecedented level, fueled by a dual growth strategy of launching new titles and enhancing its existing flagship games.
Since the company reported its third-quarter performance on Nov. 11, the stock has hovered at around 3,700 yen — the highest since its previous peak in 2021 — representing roughly a 30 percent increase from early September 2024, when it traded near 2,900 yen, the company said.
The company’s strong market value comes despite third-quarter sales and operating profit declining 12 percent and 27 percent year-on-year, reaching 118.7 billion yen and 37.5 billion yen, respectively.
Nexon said a 41 percent year-on-year rise in net profit to 38.1 billion yen, fueled by strong performance from its major titles, helped boost its valuation.
MapleStory, the company’s flagship massively multiplayer online role-playing game, saw sales triple following user-friendly updates in Korea, Nexon said. Other popular games, including Dungeon & Fighter, Blue Archive and FC Online, also continued to show strong growth.
New releases such as Mabinogi Mobile and First Berserker: Khazan, which won top honors at the 2025 Korea Game Awards, are helping expand Nexon’s customer base, the company added. The survival co-op shooter Arc Raiders, launched on Oct. 30, sold more than 4 million copies within two weeks of release.
Nexon CEO Lee Jung-hun said the company has set a target of 750 billion yen in sales by 2027, fueled by expanding existing intellectual properties and the acquisition of new IPs in 2024.
“In line with our IP expansion strategy, we will accelerate growth both in our core franchises and new IPs,” said Lee. “By diversifying our portfolio and creating sustainable profits, we aim to strengthen our position in the global market.”
To support this goal, Nexon is developing new IPs across diverse genres, including zombie apocalypse themes, while additional games based on flagship titles such as Mabinogi and Dungeon & Fighter are scheduled for release by 2027.
MapleStory: Idle RPG, based on the MapleStory IP, has already shown strong initial performance following its early November launch.
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