Thanks to the Smilegate RPG audit report for 2023, the financial results of the MMORPG Lost Ark became known. Total sales amounted to 523.744 billion South Korean won (~384 million US dollars), which is 29% lower than in 2022.
Sales in South Korea decreased by 31.8% to 381.224 billion South Korean won (~$280 million). Overseas sales brought developers 142.520 billion South Korean won (~$104 million), which is 19.6% lower than in 2022. The explanation states that this royalty was received from the publishers of the MMORPG Lost Ark outside of South Korea: Amazon Games, Tencent, GameOn, Astrum, Happytuk.
Interestingly, according to the last paragraph, in 2022, one of the partners brought in 166.153 billion won to developers out of a total of 177,402 from all foreign publishers. And in 2023, two partners have already provided income of 134.637 billion won out of 142.520 billion.
Let us remind you that a lot of events have happened to the game over the past year:
- In July 2023, the Chinese version of the game was launched.
- In January 2024, it became known about a lawsuit against the developers by investors.
- In March 2024, the Japanese version of the game was closed, and Amazon Games merged servers.