When last we checked in on NCsoft financials back in Q2, Guild Wars 2 was the subject of our biggest concern, as the game had seen a financial dip that put it on par with the era before End of Dragons (we had pegged it even with Q4 2020, specifically, owing to the weak ending of Janthir Wilds). It wasn’t a huge surprise, either, as ArenaNet had already delayed the expansion into Q4 and reorganized its releases to be a bit more back-loaded going forward.
With the arrival of the Q3 2025 financial results, we’re getting a slightly clearer picture of what’s going on – namely, that Janthir Wilds’ weak ending was the problem. The Guild Wars 2 subreddit as always has updated the big sales chart showing Q3, which has now mostly recovered. We’re actually expecting a bigger bump in Q4 because the expansion didn’t launch until the end of October, but either way, it looks like the game was already recovering, leading players to breathe more easily. NCsoft seems pleased with the PC and Guild Wars 2 numbers too, with NCsoft’s Jason Lee saying during the conference call that the expansion “delivered solid results” and contributed to a second quarter in a row of year-over-year growth for the legacy PC set.
GW2 Sales from NCSoft Q3 2025 Financials
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As for the rest of NCsoft, revenues were down 10% compared to Q3 2024, with most of those losses coming from mobile (which saw a decline of 10% YOY), not PC (which saw an increase of 9% YOY). A lot of those gains came from the Blade and Soul franchise, note.
During the conference call, NCsoft execs dropped a few more nuggets of info.
First, Aion 2 is not launching globally until the second half of 2026. We knew it’d launch next year, but this is a tighter window than we had before. NCsoft believes its monetization strategy for Aion 2 is lighter and more user-friendly in an effort to widen the userbase. Aion Mobile is also in the works, though it sounds like it’s for the Chinese market (NCsoft mentions possibly porting it westward, but no guarantees).
In discussing the decision to relax Aion 2’s monetization, the company turns to Throne & Liberty, saying that over the last year, the game earned $200M with a “pain ratio” that was “pretty high” as evinced by Steam results. Aion 2 will focus on retention and a bigger playerbase instead.
The company has declared 2026 to be its year for global expansion (admittedly, declaring a new round of global expansion is one of NCsoft’s favorite things to do). But here, it’s pointing to Aion 2, Limit Zero Breakers, Time Takers, and Cinder City, all hitting the global market next year.
NCsoft repeats that it’s unveiling a next-gen global MMORPG at G-Star (we think this is the new Horizon MMO). An analyst asked for a release date – expect in 2026 or early 2027.
Lineage W is relaunching in SE Asia next year and expanding in North America and Russia, Lineage 2M and Lineage M are heading to China.
NCsoft is opening its own proprietary payment system for its mobile games.
• NCsoft Q3 2025: Guild Wars 2 delivers ‘solid results’ as Aion 2 sets 2H 2026 global launch
• NCsoft Q2 2025: Guild Wars 2 quarterly revenues sink to lowest since before End of Dragons
• NCsoft talks possible PC shift, launch windows, and increased PvE content for Aion 2
• NCsoft Q1 2025: Guild Wars 2’s Janthir Wilds bump is over, Aion 2 is finally getting a reveal date
• NCsoft Q4 2024: Guild Wars 2 and Blade & Soul are doing great, with Aion 2 waiting in the wings
• Rumor: NCsoft may have canceled its unannounced Horizon MMO
• Interview: NCsoft America’s new CEO, Jeonghee Jin, on awakening the ‘sleeping giant in the West’
• MMO studio NCsoft inks deals to publish ‘time survival’ shooter and medieval strategy RPG
• NCsoft Q3 2024: NCsoft teases Aion 2 for 2025, says Throne & Liberty sales ‘surpassed internal projections’
• NCsoft MOBA Battle Crush will sunset in November without ever leaving early access
• NCsoft Korea confirms restructure and layoffs, renames Throne & Liberty team to Studio X
• NCsoft Korea is reportedly restructuring after multiple weak revenue quarters
• NCsoft Q2 2024: NCsoft says it’s not shifting focus away from MMORPGs
• NCsoft Q1 2024: Guild Wars 2 is on one hell of a revenue streak as Throne & Liberty stalls
• Hostile NCsoft shareholder meeting reveals ArenaNet is working on Guild Wars 3
• NCsoft Q4 2023: Guild Wars 2 is a bright spot for NCsoft as Throne & Liberty stumbles
• NCsoft Q3 2023: Mobile MMOs, not the classic PC titles, are dragging NCsoft down
• NCsoft Q2 2023: Throne & Liberty delayed as revenues, mobile games, and MMOs decline
• NCsoft Q1 2023: NCsoft confirms Throne & Liberty’s delay to back half of 2023
• NCsoft Q4 2022: Guild Wars 2 had a great 2022, Throne & Liberty is still launching by summer
• NCsoft Q3 2022: Lineage W drives QoQ revenues, Guild Wars 2 had a great year
• NCsoft Q2 2022: Throne and Liberty delayed to 2023, Aion 2 in dev, Guild Wars 2 booming
• NCsoft Q1 2022: Revenues rise thanks to Lineage W and Guild Wars 2, Throne and Liberty arriving this year
• NCsoft Q4 2021: Guild Wars 2 did great, but Lineage W drove revenues
• NCsoft Q3 2021: Guild Wars 2 just had its best quarter in years
• NCsoft Q1 2021: Overall revenues are down 30%, but Guild Wars 2 is perking up
• NCsoft Q4 2020: Aion Classic was a huge success, Guild Wars 2 improves on 2019
• NCsoft Q3 2020: Guild Wars 2 just had its best revenue quarter in two years
• NCsoft Q4 2019: It was a rough quarter for MMORPGs, especially Guild Wars 2
• NCsoft Q3 2019: Another flat financial quarter as NCsoft pumps money into NCWest
• NCsoft Q2 2019: Guild Wars 2 may be eyeing a mobile version (again)
• NCsoft 4Q 2018: Mobile made almost twice as much as all NCsoft’s other MMOs combined
• NCsoft Q3 2018: NCsoft sales continue downward slide while online PC sales trend up
• NCsoft Q3 2018: Aion, Blade & Soul, Guild Wars 2 revenues dip, while NCsoft teases three new titles
• NCsoft Q2 2018: Revenues for all NCsoft MMORPGs are down in Q1 2018 except… Aion?
• NCsoft Q1 2018: NCsoft has hired 1000 employees in the past few years, considers VR and ARG titles
• NCsoft Q4 2017: Guild Wars resurges as Blade & Soul and Lineage M drive profits
• NCsoft Q3 2017: Lineage M drives record profits, Guild Wars 2 Path of Fire isn’t too shabby either
• NCsoft Q2 2017: Guild Wars 2 drops to new all-time low, Blade and Soul heads to console
• NCsoft Q1 2017: Tumbles for Lineage, Guild Wars 2, plus new leadership for Lineage Eternal
• NCsoft 4Q 2016: Record sales, WildStar’s fate, Lineage Eternal launch
• NCsoft Q3 2016: Declines for WildStar, Guild Wars 2, and Blade & Soul
• NCsoft Q2 2016: WildStar up, Guild Wars 2 down
• NCsoft Q1 2016: Blade & Soul is booming, WildStar is tumbling
• NCsoft Q4 2015: Sales surge for Guild Wars 2, bump for WildStar
• NCsoft Q3 2015: Guild Wars 2, WildStar, all sales dip downward [Updated]
• NCsoft Q2 2015: Guild Wars 2 is up, WildStar is down
• NCsoft Q1 2015: Growth for Guild Wars 2, further deflation for WildStar
• NCsoft Q4 2014: NCsoft financials paint a grim picture for WildStar