A third-person view of a video game character in a bulky orange and teal spacesuit and helmet, firing a weapon in a dusty, sunlit environment. The character is taking cover near a rusted metal container and concrete barriers while engaging in combat, with a mechanical flying drone hovering in the sky above them.

Nexon just posted a record-breaking $959M for Q1 2026.

Nexon Q1 2026 Earnings: Arc Raiders Drives Record $959M in Revenue

South Korean publisher Nexon posts a record $959M in Q1 2026 revenue, fueled by the breakout success of Arc Raiders and steady growth from the MapleStory franchise.

17 MAY 2026, 08:08 PM

Highlights

Nexon hit a record $959M in Q1 2026 revenue, with net income surging by 118%.
Growth was heavily driven by Embark Studios' Arc Raiders and the classic MapleStory franchise.
Anticipating a Q2 decline, Nexon adapts via project cancellations and a 10-year Tencent partnership.

South Korean gaming giant Nexon has kicked off 2026 with a massive bang, posting its highest-earning quarter. Powered by the breakout success of Embark Studios' extraction shooter, Arc Raiders, alongside the enduring legacy of the MapleStory franchise, the publisher saw its first-quarter net income skyrocket by 118% year-over-year to hit ¥57.2 billion ($360.7 million USD).

The financial scorecard for the January to March period is nothing short of impressive. Overall revenue reached a record-breaking ¥152.2B ($959.9M), marking a 34% jump compared to the same time last year. Operating income also climbed 40% to hit ¥58.2B ($367M), but the staggering net income growth carries a slight caveat.

Company reports revealed this surge was significantly supported by a massive foreign exchange gain of ¥14.5B ($91.4M), rebounding sharply from a loss in the first quarter of 2025. This reliance on favorable currency fluctuations, combined with a softer outlook for the next quarter, actually caused Nexon’s Japanese-listed shares to slide by about 4% in after-hours trading as investors exercised a bit of caution.

A video game character in a protective orange suit sits on the sandy ground, taking cover behind a dilapidated, rusted white car. Looming directly over them is a massive, menacing mechanical spider-like machine with a bright, glowing red core. The scene is set on a ruined road with an abandoned bus in the background, bathed in the warm, golden light of the setting sun.

Steam

Arc Raiders and Embark Studios Fuel Record Growth

The undeniable star of the quarter was Arc Raiders. The shooter sold an additional 4.6 million units during the quarter, pushing its total lifetime sales to a staggering 16M copies since its release last October. Players are deeply hooked, too, with Nexon reporting that over half of active players have spent more than 100 hours in-game, accumulating an incredible 1.5 billion hours of total playtime.

This blockbuster performance drove Nexon's horizontal revenues up 188% to ¥59.3B ($374.1M). Another Embark Studios title, The Finals, also contributed to this momentum with a solid 47% year-over-year revenue increase.

On the legacy side, Nexon's three main pillars, MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter, and FC, proved their staying power by generating a stable ¥92.9B ($586.1M) in first-quarter revenue. The MapleStory franchise was a particular standout, enjoying a 42% revenue increase led by MapleStory Worlds and MapleStory: Idle RPG.

However, it wasn't a flawless quarter across the board. Growth in MapleStory and FC was partially offset by a decline in Dungeon & Fighter Mobile. Furthermore, Nexon had to absorb a ¥6.7B ($42.2M) reduction in revenue and a ¥3.5B ($22M) hit to operating income due to a coding error in MapleStory: Idle RPG earlier this year. The bug misapplied probability and statistical values for certain paid items, forcing the company to issue mass player refunds.

A Raider stands in the shadowed entrance of the Arrival in the ARC Raiders' spaceport map as another Raider advances cautiously and loots a dead body.

Embark Studios

Strategic Shifts: Project Cancellations and Tencent Partnership

To adapt and refocus, Nexon is making some decisive internal moves. The publisher canceled three projects in the first quarter, opting instead to reallocate funding and redeploy creative talent to promising titles like Nakwon: Last Paradise and Woochi the Wayfarer to better capture a global audience.

The company is also tweaking its approach in China. Development of the Chinese service for Dungeon & Fighter Mobile has been transferred to Tencent to ensure greater hyper-localization and player engagement, though Neople Studio will maintain creative control during the co-development. Alongside this move, Nexon and Tencent announced a ten-year extension of their publishing partnership for Dungeon & Fighter on PC in the region.

Looking to the future, Nexon has a robust pipeline with 15 games and experiences currently in development. Five of these are slated for release this year, including Overwatch on PC, Project T, and Dungeon & Fighter: Idle RPG, while Embark Studios is already quietly working on two new games in early development.

Despite this busy calendar, Nexon is bracing for a bit of a cooling-off period in the immediate future. The company expects second-quarter revenue to fall by 10%, landing between ¥107B ($674.9M) and ¥119.7B ($755M). Operating income is forecasted to take a steeper drop of 57%, settling into a range of ¥16.1B ($101.5M) to ¥25.3B ($159.6M).

Nexon attributes this expected decline to a tough year-over-year comparison with the second quarter of 2025, which featured massive successful launches for the Dungeon & Fighter and Mabinogi Mobile franchises. Even with the anticipated second-quarter slowdown, Nexon expects ongoing growth from its classic MapleStory franchise and the runaway success of Arc Raiders to keep the business firmly on its feet.

Krishna Goswami

Author

Krishna Goswami is a content writer at Outlook India, where she delves into the vibrant worlds of pop culture, gaming, and esports. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) with a PG Diploma in English Journalism, she brings a strong journalistic foundation to her work. Her prior newsroom experience equips her to deliver sharp, insightful, and engaging content on the latest trends in the digital world.