Recently, NCSOFT's credit rating was downgraded by one notch to 'AA-' for the first time in five years due to poor performance.
According to NICE Investors Service on the 6th, NCSOFT's credit rating was adjusted down from 'AA' to 'AA-'. It has been about five years since it was raised to 'AA' in June 2020. The outlook for the rating was assigned as 'stable.'
NICE Investors Service projected that NCSOFT's revenue will struggle to grow this year due to the slowdown in the domestic gaming market. NICE noted, 'Mobile game usage rates in the domestic market are on the decline due to increased leisure activities and the growth of alternative entertainment like over-the-top (OTT) services since 2023.'
They added, 'The competition in the multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG), which is the company's main genre, is intensifying. The business environment is negatively changing due to trends such as the preference for short-form content among gamers, increasing fatigue with in-game purchases, stricter regulations on random items, and the short lifespan of mobile games.'
NCSOFT's revenue decreased from 2.57 trillion won in 2022 to 1.58 trillion won last year. During the same period, it posted an operating profit of 560 billion won, but recorded a loss of over 100 billion won last year.
Meanwhile, Korea Credit Rating Agency has assigned NCSOFT a credit rating of 'AA (negative).'