Nexon Tops Q2 Forecasts as Arc Raiders Sales Reach 16.3 Million

Nexon beat its own forecasts in the second quarter of 2026, lifted by a resurgent MapleStory franchise and continued sales from Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders, which has now sold more than 16.3 million units since its launch nine months ago.

The Tokyo-listed publisher reported revenue of ¥121.1 billion and operating income of ¥31.3 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, both ahead of its outlook, according to its Q2 2026 earnings letter published August 13, 2026. Revenue grew 2% year over year while operating income fell 17%, a decline Nexon attributed to a shift in product mix toward titles carrying higher revenue-linked costs, including creator fees, user-acquisition spending, cloud service fees from its growing global live services, and software service fees.

Net income came in at ¥29.6 billion, up 77% year over year. The jump was largely an accounting effect: Nexon booked a ¥1.7 billion foreign-exchange loss this quarter against a ¥17.5 billion FX loss in Q2 2025, and it also recognized a ¥5.5 billion valuation gain on funds.

Arc Raiders Becomes a Franchise-Scale Business

Arc Raiders contributed ¥18.3 billion in revenue during the quarter, roughly 15% of Nexon’s total, with cumulative revenue above ¥88 billion since the game’s release on October 30, 2025. Cumulative unit sales reached 16.3 million after another 800,000 copies sold in Q2, a pace the company described as normalizing more than nine months after launch. The title was developed by Embark Studios, the Stockholm-based studio Nexon backed from its founding and now consolidates.

The next catalyst is Frozen Trail, the game’s largest content update since launch, scheduled for October 2026 and designed to re-energize the installed base and draw in new players. Nexon also ran a closed alpha test for Arc Raiders in China in July 2026 alongside its publishing partner Tencent, which the company said exceeded its registration targets and drew positive feedback on localization quality — a signal that a formal Chinese release, historically the single largest unlock for a Nexon shooter, is moving through testing.

Nexon framed the game as proof of a repeatable model rather than a one-off success. “Our commitment to global expansion has been validated by the success of ARC Raiders, an all-new game that broke through in Western markets dominated by legacy franchises,” the letter states, describing Embark’s approach of “pioneering new technology for leaner, faster development” as “a strategic unlock and a portal for Nexon’s global expansion.”

MapleStory Carries the Quarter While Legacy Franchises Split

The MapleStory franchise grew 63% year over year to a record quarterly high, comfortably beating Nexon’s outlook. The standout was MapleStory Worlds, the user-generated-content platform, where revenue grew 123% on the back of two new creator worlds launched in late April 2026 in Korea and Taiwan; Nexon expects Worlds revenue to roughly double again year over year in Q3. MapleStory: Idle RPG also exceeded plan on the back of its April half-anniversary update, while Korea MapleStory grew 7% on top of last year’s 91% surge. Global MapleStory declined 7% against a strong prior-year base.

Nexon’s three biggest legacy franchises — MapleStory, Dungeon&Fighter, and FC — together generated ¥81.2 billion, down 5% year over year. Dungeon&Fighter fell 44%, in line with guidance, and Nexon has transferred development of the China mobile game to Tencent, with hyperlocalized content releases planned monthly through the second half of 2026. The FC franchise missed Nexon’s outlook: FC Online traffic and monetization came in softer than expected (the company noted the World Cup “did not translate into the traffic lift we anticipated”) and FC Mobile was hurt by technical problems after an April overhaul. Nexon expects both to recover sequentially from the June and July Team of the Season updates.

The Numbers Behind Nexon’s Q2 2026

• Revenue: ¥121.1 billion, up 2% year over year and above outlook
• Operating income: ¥31.3 billion, down 17% year over year and above outlook
• Net income: ¥29.6 billion, up 77% year over year
• Arc Raiders: ¥18.3 billion in Q2 revenue; ¥88 billion-plus and 16.3 million units since launch
• MapleStory franchise: up 63% year over year, a quarterly record; MapleStory Worlds up 123%
• Cash position: ¥842 billion at quarter-end, after investment divestitures returned ¥106 billion in principal and generated ¥142 billion in gains

A ¥324 Billion Special Dividend and a Denser Slate

The quarter’s other headline is capital return. Nexon announced a plan to pay a special dividend of ¥415 per share, approximately ¥324 billion, or $2 billion, to shareholders registered as of September 30, 2026. The payment is subject to a formal board resolution expected in September 2026 and sits alongside a planned ¥60 per share in regular annual dividends and a ¥30 billion buyback completed in July 2026. Nexon said the special dividend will lift its cumulative capital returned to shareholders since its 2011 IPO past ¥900 billion by the end of 2026, against a standing target of returning more than 33% of the prior year’s operating income.

The distribution is funded by a balance sheet the letter describes as strengthened by the divestiture of Nexon’s investment holdings, and it arrives while the company manages full-year HR costs flat and winds down low-margin live projects under the transformation program it laid out at its March 2026 Capital Markets Briefing.

For Q3 2026, Nexon guided revenue of ¥120.7 billion to ¥133.4 billion, up 2% to 12% year over year, but operating income of ¥22.6 billion to ¥32.3 billion, down 14% to 40%. The profit decline reflects a ¥3.9 billion one-off gain that flattered Q3 2025, launch marketing and revenue-linked costs ahead of Q4 releases, and a one-time ¥1.5 billion charge to adjust outstanding stock options in connection with the special dividend.

The release calendar is now dated. Dave the Diver’s mobile version launches globally September 17, 2026; Nexon’s Korean PC service of Overwatch, under its publishing agreement with Blizzard Entertainment, began August 12, 2026; Mabinogi Mobile’s Japan service and Arad: Idle RPG land in Q4 2026; and Frozen Trail for Arc Raiders follows in October 2026. Beyond that, the letter dates Dungeon&Fighter Classic and the Embark-developed Nakwon: Last Paradise for 2027, and confirms two additional new games in early development at Embark.