Patrick Söderlund, chairman of Nexon Japan, said Wednesday that the company's annual revenue target of 7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) for next year is unachievable due to underperformance of key intellectual properties and delays in new game launches.
Söderlund made the remarks at a Capital Markets Briefing (CMB) held in Tokyo. It was his first vision presentation since taking the chairmanship last month.
"At the time we set the target, we were confident that strong franchise performance, an expanding new title pipeline, and growing scale would translate into profitability," Söderlund said. "But in terms of revenue, Dungeon & Fighter Mobile suffered structural underperformance, and new title launches were delayed."
"Costs grew faster than revenue as the portfolio expanded," he added. "It is difficult to achieve the original target on schedule."
Söderlund pointed out that Nexon's product portfolio is too broad and signaled he would begin trimming operations to focus on high-value IPs.
"We reviewed the entire portfolio covering both live games and new titles, and selected projects that can meet or exceed our newly established profit floor," he said. "Along with a thorough cost review, some projects will receive additional investment, some will be restructured, and some will be canceled."
Regarding the probability manipulation controversy that arose in January from "MapleStory Mobile Growing," Söderlund called it "a clear management failure." He noted that "a code error was neither reported to management nor disclosed to users," adding that "while the financial burden from refunds was significant, the erosion of trust was a bigger problem."
As follow-up measures, he pledged to establish a Chief Risk Officer (CRO) position, mandate dual reporting systems, and strengthen board oversight.