NCsoft, which posted its first operating loss in 26 years last year and carried out a major restructuring, is showing signs of recovery. Pictured is a union rally held in protest of the restructuring at the time. [Photos: NCsoft, union]
NCsoft, which posted its first operating loss in 26 years last year and carried out a major restructuring, is showing signs of recovery. Pictured is a union rally held in protest of the restructuring at the time. [Photos: NCsoft, union]

"Still not there. I bought in at 900,000 won ($662)." — NCsoft investor

"I'm stuck holding at 1 million won." — NCsoft investor

A share price that once touched 1 million won has since cratered into the 100,000-won range — but NCsoft, the game developer that took a historic beating in the markets, is making a comeback. Its highly anticipated title "Aion 2" is showing blockbuster potential in global markets, sending the stock surging roughly 17 percent over two trading sessions.

NCsoft shares had tumbled as low as the 190,000-won range last month, but staged a sharp rebound since the global launch of "Aion 2."

On Friday, NCsoft closed up 6.30 percent at 244,500 won. The day before, shares had already climbed 10.29 percent, extending a streak of strong gains.

The rally was driven by "Aion 2," NCsoft's massively multiplayer online role-playing game, which drew more than 170,000 concurrent players on Steam immediately after its early-access launch on the global PC platform. With early global metrics exceeding expectations, the long-stagnant stock has broken into a powerful rebound.

"Aion 2" [Photo: NCsoft]
"Aion 2" [Photo: NCsoft]

According to global game data platform SteamDB on Saturday, "Aion 2" recorded a peak concurrent player count of 171,530 on Steam. The massive traffic spike has fueled strong expectations for a major commercial hit.

Hyundai Motor Securities raised its target price for NCsoft from 350,000 won to 380,000 won, citing expectations for continued profit growth driven by the global performance of "Aion 2" and upcoming new title releases.

"Aion 2 Global recorded 170,000 concurrent players," said Choi Seung-ho, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities. "That far exceeds the 60,000 seen for TL, making an early commercial success essentially a certainty."

However, user retention after the official launch will be the key test. "Share price volatility is expected to be extreme, depending on peak concurrent players at the time of the official launch on Monday and the natural decline that follows," Choi added.

Choi said investors should buy the stock even if "Aion 2 Global" underperforms. "Ten games are waiting to launch through next year. The current price-to-earnings ratio is around nine times — the lowest valuation among global software companies as a whole," he said.

NCsoft founder Kim Taek-jin introduces "Aion 2."
NCsoft founder Kim Taek-jin introduces "Aion 2."

The collapse in NCsoft's share price was devastating. Once hailed as a "national emperor stock" — a blue-chip so beloved that investors said to buy every dip without question — no one anticipated how far it would fall. From a peak above 1 million won, the stock plunged as low as the 130,000-won range.

The crash was triggered by a sharp swing to losses. NCsoft posted an operating loss of 109.2 billion won ($80.3 million) last year, its first deficit in 26 years, as the craze for Lineage — the franchise that had long underpinned the company — faded.

Despite union opposition, NCsoft carried out its first large-scale voluntary redundancy program in 12 years, cutting its headquarters headcount from roughly 5,000 to around 3,000.

NCsoft had long been one of the most sought-after employers in South Korea's tech industry, drawing record numbers of applicants with every hiring cycle. The company is known for offering the highest salaries in the IT sector — guaranteeing a minimum annual base pay of 55 million won with no ceiling on starting salaries, and paying performance bonuses that can reach into the hundreds of millions of won.


park@heraldcorp.com