Nexon CEO Lee Jung-heon (이정헌) presented the company’s direction as becoming “a company that builds lifelong relationships with players beyond one-off purchases.” He said its franchise expansion strategy, pipeline of 6 new titles and AI strategy are all aimed at that goal.

Lee assessed performance since the 2024 CMB and outlined future strategy at a Capital Market Briefing (CMB) held in Tokyo on March 31.

He cited “Dungeon & Fighter Mobile” and “The First Descendant” as areas where results fell short. Dungeon & Fighter Mobile lost momentum quickly after its 2024 launch, he said, explaining that “a structure that fails to sustain motivation to play drains the fun and leads to user churn.” He said the issue cannot be solved with patches and requires structural changes to the game mechanism. Nexon will overhaul the core combat structure and reward loop. It will also add local development capabilities through joint development with Tencent.

He said there were also significant areas of strong performance. In 2025, the MapleStory franchise grew 43% from a year earlier to post its best results in its 22-year history. The Dungeon & Fighter PC segment grew 30% from a year earlier, while South Korea PC revenue rose more than 100% to a record high in the service’s 20-year history. Mabinogi Mobile quadrupled franchise revenue, and Arc Raiders was assessed as an example confirming a breakthrough in the company’s ability to create new intellectual property (IP) in the global market.

Lee said the main driver of the growth came from a formula of bringing back churned users and attracting new ones. “MapleStory World” reached 7 million cumulative users worldwide in 2025. In South Korea, 91% of users of inspiration-based content were found to be former PC MapleStory users. In MapleStory Kiwoogi, more than half of users were new and had no prior MapleStory PC or mobile experience. Lee said he plans to apply that formula to the Dungeon & Fighter franchise as well.

Nexon on the day presented 6 new titles as its key pipeline: Dungeon & Fighter Kiwoogi, Dungeon & Fighter Classic, Dungeon & Fighter Arad, Project Overkill, Vindictus: Defying Fate, and Nakwon: Last Paradise (Nakwon). Dungeon & Fighter Kiwoogi is targeted for release this year, and Dungeon & Fighter Classic is targeted for release in 2027. The new IP Nakwon recorded more than 37,000 concurrent users in a closed alpha test conducted without separate marketing. Nexon is preparing a 2027 release with global users in mind through collaboration with Embark Studios.

On partnerships, Nexon said it signed a China publishing agreement with Tencent for “The Finals,” “Arc Raiders” and “The First Berserker Khazan.” It also announced the previous day that it plans to publish Overwatch with Blizzard Entertainment within the year.

On its AI strategy “Monolake,” Lee said, “AI without context is merely speed, and in the end it converges into competition where every company makes similar games.” Nexon’s policy is to use AI, based on data accumulated from billions of player sessions, not to replace creative personnel but to allow key talent to focus on creative decision-making.

Lee said, “All strategies announced today ultimately boil down to one question.” He emphasised: “Can this content become a lifelong passion for someone?” He added, “Chairman Soderlund presents the vision and strategy, and I will put it into execution and prove it in numbers.”