Nexon achieved its best-ever quarterly results, helped by global success for the MapleStory franchise and Ark Raiders.

Nexon said in a filing on Wednesday it posted first-quarter consolidated revenue of 1.42 trillion won and operating profit of 542.6 billion won. Revenue rose 34 percent and operating profit gained 40 percent from a year earlier. Net profit surged 118 percent to 533.8 billion won. Revenue, operating profit and net profit were all record highs for a single quarter.

Overseas markets led the growth. First-quarter overseas revenue rose 59 percent from a year earlier to a quarterly record. Revenue in North America and Europe more than quadrupled, while other regions including Southeast Asia more than doubled.

The MapleStory franchise grew 42 percent from a year earlier, driven by the performance of Maple Raising and MapleStory World, which launched globally last year. Ark Raiders sold an additional 4.6 million copies in the first quarter alone and topped cumulative sales of 16 million copies within six months of release, establishing itself as a next-generation blockbuster intellectual property.

Nexon forecast second-quarter revenue in a range of 995.9 billion won to 1.11 trillion won (107.0 billion yen to 119.7 billion yen). It reflects a change of between minus 10 percent and plus 1 percent from a year earlier. It projected operating profit of 149.5 billion won to 236.0 billion won (16.1 billion yen to 25.3 billion yen) and net profit of 149.8 billion won to 215.8 billion won (16.1 billion yen to 23.2 billion yen).

To support mid- to long-term growth, Nexon is also strengthening partnerships for key titles. It signed a long-term publishing contract with EA for the FC franchise in South Korea and extended its publishing contract with Tencent for the PC version of Dungeon & Fighter in China by 10 years. It is also preparing to provide service in South Korea this year for the PC version of Overwatch in partnership with Blizzard Entertainment.

In the second half, it plans to launch Mabinogi Mobile in Taiwan and Japan and roll out Dungeon & Fighter Raising. Nexon said it will strengthen its IP competitiveness with new self-developed titles including Dungeon & Fighter Classic, Nakwon: LAST PARADISE, Durango World and Uchi the Wayfarer, as well as new publishing titles including Azur Promilia and Project T.

Nexon CEO Jung-heon Lee (이정헌) said, "We were able to deliver outstanding results thanks to the global success of the MapleStory franchise and Ark Raiders." He said, "We will secure mid- to long-term growth engines by strengthening strategic partnerships and a solid lineup of new titles."