Nexon (CEO Junghun Lee) held its earnings conference call for the third quarter of 2025 on the 11th. The company said steady performance from the MapleStory franchise and other key titles enabled both revenue and operating income to meet guidance. Notably, Patrick Söderlund, CEO of ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios, joined the call to answer questions directly.

For Q3, Nexon reported revenue of ¥118.7 billion (approximately ₩1.127 trillion) and operating income of ¥37.5 billion (approximately ₩356 billion). Revenue from the MapleStory franchise grew 61% year-over-year, while EA Sports FC Online and the PC version of Dungeon & Fighter also delivered stable results.

Nexon said it is accelerating the expansion of its global portfolio in Q4. ARC Raiders, launched on October 30, surpassed 4 million units sold worldwide, and MapleStory: Idle RPG, released on November 6, is drawing a positive response.

During the call, Nexon disclosed its Q4 unit-sales target for ARC Raiders. The CFO said, “We’re looking at around 5 million units, and up to 5.5 million at the high end,” adding that sales to date stand at 4 million.

As for revenue mix, the CFO explained, “Fundamentally this is a premium (package) game, so the majority of revenue comes from base-game sales, not DLC. While future DLC will shift the composition, the trajectory should be in line with a typical premium title.”

Söderlund added, “At present, the in-game store supports microtransactions for cosmetic items and the like. Going forward, we’ll frequently roll out both paid and free content and support the game over the long term.”

Söderlund emphasized that ARC Raiders’ retention metrics are “higher than any game ever developed in Nexon’s history,” noting that the title hit its peak concurrent users on the Sunday 10 days after launch.

Asked about Escape from Tarkov’s arrival on Steam, he said, “Tarkov is a game that inspired ARC Raiders. Our goal was to take the hardcore extraction genre and make it more approachable and broadly appealing.”

Questions also touched on Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in China. CEO Junghun Lee said Nexon expects to increase both traffic and revenue in partnership with the local publisher. “Beyond content supplied from Korea, we can collaborate with our partner to deliver timely events and rich content suited to the realities of the Chinese market,” he said.

The first collaboration content launched on September 24 and received strong marks from a user-engagement standpoint. Lee continued, “Our 2026 plan includes a robust slate of collaboration content in addition to Korean-developed content. We’re confident we’ll show better results in 2026.”

He added that chasing short-term boosts through large, one-off updates is not healthy over the long run, saying the 2026 roadmap aims to address issues progressively to ensure a sustainable live service.

On MapleStory: Idle RPG, Lee noted that the game is “still in the very earliest stage—not even a week since launch,” and said clear genre separation from existing franchise titles means “there is no cannibalization now, nor do we expect any.” He said the game is performing well in Korea, Taiwan, and North America, and described the launch as “a strategic decision aimed at cultivating a new MapleStory fandom.”

Regarding Embark’s use of AI, Söderlund drew a line: “We are not automating development.” He explained, “We’re not using AI to cut costs or replace people; we’re leveraging it so our teams can focus on unleashing creativity.”

Addressing the audio controversy, he said, “The vast majority of voices are high-quality, recorded audio. Limited use of automated voices was an efficiency choice to deliver a better player experience more quickly.”

Söderlund said lessons from The Finals’ initially low retention helped lay the groundwork for ARC Raiders’ success. He noted that The Finals rebounded by reflecting community feedback and improving retention, and pledged that if ARC Raiders shows signs of decline, the team will respond “systematically and swiftly” as it did with The Finals.

As for the lowered Q4 revenue outlook for Dungeon & Fighter on PC in China, Nexon’s CFO said, “There is no impact from the strike.” He added, “We saw a strong recovery in Q2 and Q3, and with a very important first quarter of next year ahead, we’re focusing strategically in Q4 on maintenance and strengthening user engagement. This is a strategic decision, not a sign of the game slowing.”

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.