NC, the South Korean developer of the Lineage and Aion online games, said on Wednesday that it earned an operating profit of 119.6 billion won in the third quarter, reversing an operating loss of 7.5 billion won a year earlier. Sales rose 90.7% to 686.5 billion won, according to the company's preliminary filing with Korea's financial regulator.

The result gives investors in Asian game stocks evidence that NC's long effort to rebuild its lineup is paying off. In the third quarter, according to Yonhap News Agency, overseas markets supplied 54% of revenue, the fifth straight quarter in which that share grew.

The bottom line was weaker. Net income fell 94.2% to about 20 billion won, and profit attributable to shareholders of the parent was 15.9 billion won, the filing showed. A company official told Yonhap that the drop reflected foreign exchange effects and a high base: NC booked a gain a year earlier from selling its office building in southern Seoul. Pretax profit from continuing operations fell 91.4% to 37.2 billion won.

Aion 2 and Lineage Classic carry NC's sales

NC credited two titles for the jump in revenue: Lineage Classic and Aion 2. In a note to its filing, the company said customers had spent about 110.3 billion won on Aion 2's global service in the 42 days from the start of early access on Sept. 30 through Nov. 10, including pre-sold founder's packs. NC cautioned that the figure measures customer payments and may differ from revenue recognized under accounting rules.

Revenue by region shows how far the mix has moved. Korea accounted for 46% of third-quarter sales, the United States and Europe for 34% and the rest of Asia for 20%, Yonhap reported.

The quarter was softer than the one before it. Sales fell 10.9% from the second quarter's 770.5 billion won, and operating profit dropped 31.2% from 173.9 billion won, according to the filing. That puts weight on the fourth quarter, the first full period of Aion 2's global service.

For the first nine months, NC's operating profit reached 406.8 billion won, compared with 12.8 billion won in the same period of 2025. Cumulative sales rose 82.7% to 2.01 trillion won, according to the filing. Yonhap gave the nine-month figure as 2.14 trillion won; the regulatory filing is used here.

NC guidance points to 2027 growth

NC raised its sales guidance for 2026 to 2.8 trillion won, Yonhap reported. With 2.01 trillion won booked through September, that target implies fourth-quarter revenue of roughly 790 billion won, which would be the company's largest quarter of the year.

In a separate filing, NC set its first revenue target for 2027 at 3.2 trillion to 3.4 trillion won, with a midpoint of 3.3 trillion won. The company said the range rests on its internal forecasts of key indicators and the business environment, and could change with market conditions. It gave no profit guidance for next year.

NC also said it plans to release 10 new titles in global markets by the end of next year, according to Yonhap.

For investors weighing Korean consumer and internet stocks, NC now draws more than half its sales from abroad, which also leaves its reported profit more exposed to currency swings, as the third-quarter net income showed. Capital Times has also reported on the Kospi's 4% jump as foreign buyers returned. Among internet peers, Kakao's third-quarter results showed a different picture, with AI spending at the center.

NC held a conference call for analysts and investors at 4 p.m. Seoul time on Wednesday, in Korean and English, according to the filing. The company said the figures are preliminary and had not yet been reviewed by its external auditor, so the reviewed third-quarter report is the next document to check. After that, investors will watch whether Aion 2's early payment run holds through the fourth quarter, the period NC needs to deliver for its 2.8 trillion won target.