Line Games has been recruiting executives from Nexon Korea to improve its structure and turn things around, but it has struggled to escape its downturn. The highly anticipated RPG (role-playing game) Genesis War IP (intellectual property) based new game 'Genesis War Mobile: Asura Project' saw its user numbers plummet by more than 95% in just over a year since its launch.
According to mobile statistics analysis platform Mobile Index, the monthly active users (MAU) of 'Genesis War Mobile' dropped from 208,404 in January last year to 8,742 last month. Over the same period, the total number of active devices fell from 134,815 to 31,808, a decrease of 76.4%. Line Games recently announced plans to complete the story of Genesis War Mobile by this fall and to commence updates for the spin-off 'The Rhapsody of the West Wind', but signs of recovery are not evident. It is also ranked outside the top lists in major app stores.
Line Games was established when Line, a Japanese subsidiary of Naver, acquired mobile game developer Nextfloor in 2017. Since the second half of 2023, it has sought to improve its structure by recruiting numerous senior executives from Nexon Korea. Former Nexon Vice President Kim Tae-hwan joined as Vice President of Line Games, and former Platform Director Yoon Joo-hyun was appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Vice President Kim was instrumental in leading core IP projects such as 'MapleStory' during his time at Nexon, while CTO Yoon is a technology expert who oversaw platform architecture.
In November of the same year, Jo Dong-hyun, the former head of Nexon's new business department, joined Line Games as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and was promoted to co-CEO in March of last year. Jo is the founder of Super Awesome, which developed the puzzle game 'Hello Kitty Friends' and the idle RPG 'Shindorim', bringing practical management experience in both development and operations.
The 'Genesis War' IP acquired by Line Games in 2016 has transitioned through multiple new releases for both mobile and console, but the results have fallen short of expectations. The 'Genesis War: Shadows of Gray', released exclusively for Nintendo Switch at the end of 2023, failed to perform well, leading to the dissolution of its developing subsidiary, Reg Studio. The 'Genesis War Mobile', launched in January last year, also saw a sharp decline in revenue and metrics compared to initial interest, resulting in the departure of Director Lee Kyung-jin, who oversaw the project, in March of the same year, as well as the dissolution of the developing organization, Antaria Team. Currently, the management of this IP is solely handled by the subsidiary Meerkat Games.
Line Games continues to experience poor performance. Last year's revenue was 43.5 billion won, an 11% decrease compared to the previous year, and the net loss was 33.8 billion won. Although the loss size has significantly reduced, this was due to one-time factors such as subsidiary restructuring and equity sales. For the same year, the operating loss was 16.1 billion won, and since its founding in 2017, it has incurred cumulative operating losses of 243.4 billion won without posting a single year of operating profit.
Line Games has been focusing on RPG and console-centered business strategies aiming for an IPO (initial public offering), but it has already lost momentum. Recently, it attempted to expand its reach with the official release of a casual puzzle new game 'Hello Kitty Friends Match', but it remains uncertain whether this will lead to a recovery in performance. Some new titles, including the Steam package game 'Amber & Blade,' are in preparation, but the IPO, which has been pursued since 2022, is struggling with both revenue requirements and achieving growth.
An industry insider said, 'Genesis War used to be the representative IP of Korean RPGs, but recent new releases have failed to meet the expectations of original fans and also lack operational stability,' adding, 'Despite the influx of many former Nexon employees, the notable recovery is not evident, suggesting that a new content strategy that can enhance user experience and revenue simultaneously is needed rather than relying on IP recognition.'