[Game Shareholders' Meeting] NCsoft, TJ, Google Meeting BM, Shareholders' Meeting - Full Q&A
On the 28th, NCsoft held its annual general meeting of shareholders. CEO Kim Taek-jin (TJ) was absent from the meeting due to business related to Google in the U.S., and Byung-moo Park (BM), an outside director, acted as chairman according to the regulations. The two co-designees chaired the business meeting and the general meeting, respectively.
"Due to Mr. Kim's urgent meetings with Google, I was forced to act as acting chairman," said Mr. Byungmoo Park. "I can't tell you everything, but there are several important meetings related to our company's performance," he said.
"In 2023, the global game market as a whole was very unstable, and NCsoft experienced internal and external difficulties," he said, apologizing to shareholders for the significant drop in stock price. The company's 2023 performance was a disappointment compared to 2022, which was its best year since its founding.
Park emphasized that the company has built up assets over the past two decades by overcoming numerous adversities. "Looking back at our history, we have a number of box office IPs that are the only ones in Korea to be developed in-house, we have excellent talent including CEO Kim Taek-jin, and we have great experiences of successes and failures," he said. "I am confident that if these assets blossom, we will be able to build sustainable development capabilities again."
"The transformation for change has already begun," he said, adding, "All employees will work as a complementary 'one team' and focus on a common goal." "On the other hand, I dare to say that this year marks the beginning of NCSoft's transformation into a global games company. The company will launch a number of genres that it hasn't done before, and will make everything global rather than domestic.
"To this end, CEO Kim Taek-jin is traveling around the world to continue global collaboration," Park said, promising that "as co-chairman, I will lay the foundation for NCsoft with four keywords." The four keywords are: building a foundation for globalization, streamlining to internalize management, building a data-driven decision-making system, and M&A and continuous investment to increase new IP.
"Therefore, 2024 will be a very important turning point for NC and its shareholders from many perspectives," said Byungmoo Park, acting CEO. "NC employees are doing their best, and if shareholders are patient and supportive, we will restore trust and become NCsoft, which will show trust-based performance."
On the day, all agenda items were passed, including the re-election of Mr. Kim and the appointment of Mr. Byungmoo Park. Mr. Byungmoo Park will become co-chairman of the board of directors immediately after the AGM.
Here are some highlights from the Q&A at the AGM
Q. The information provided by NCSoft has become too scarce. From this earnings announcement, it will not disclose sales information by game. Providing opaque information is a discounting factor. Also, the distribution costs have increased significantly. In the past, NCC had a controversy with streamer backed advertisements, which increased costs to maintain sales.
CFO Hong Won-joon = Since the last earnings announcement, we did not disclose sales by game, which led to many speculations. There are some people who say that it is because the performance of each game is not good, but in a way, it can be said to be an 'oversight'. It's just to align with other listed companies' disclosures or global standards. We provide information on revenue by game through the IR office. However, we will consider what is best for our shareholders at the next earnings call.
The talk of us making or driving revenue from streamers was around the time I joined NC (October 2021). There has been no official word of that since I joined. I say this loud and clear.
In addition, in order to reduce costs, even dry towels are being woven under the leadership of Park Byung-moo. Even Kim Taek-jin's overseas trips are part of that, and we're trying to negotiate on that level.
Q. I don't understand why NWEST has been in the red for eight years, and the person in charge is still in charge.
Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = The issue of NCWest's deficit is not just about numbers. Personally, I've been a director of NCsoft for 17 years, and I've seen that NC West has undergone a lot of reorganization. Originally, we had six studios in the U.S., and we had to consolidate them into what is now ArenaNet, which added costs, but in the end, it became a competitive ArenaNet. It's not a loss, it's a contribution to making us more competitive in the US.
ArenaNet has a meaningful IP called 'Guild Wars,' and it went through 'Guild Wars 2' and is now making 'Guild Wars 3'. If you look at the process, it's quite competitive. It's not completely profitable, but I evaluate that it has grown its competitiveness.
There is a saying that it is a family business, but we have the right people in the right place. I think they all played their roles according to the circumstances. As this is the first year of our global leap, we have reorganized the organization mainly at the headquarters, but we will also reorganize the global organization in the future. The reorganization will be done carefully according to normal circumstances and procedures. Please stay tuned.
Also, please don't judge Dr. Songyi Yoon based on just NCWest and some studios. As far as I know, Dr. Yoon has done a great job as CSO in collaborating with multiple organizations and scaling new IPs. Family or not, our board of directors would have voted against him if he was in the position simply because he was family. That's what he was capable of.
I think Dr. Songyi Yoon has shown the courage to step down as we've grown and changed over the last year, and I'm biased because he's family. I would like to see Dr. Yoon's contributions as well. Family or not, please understand that Dr. Yun's AI knowledge, global network, and invisible contributions to the company have been tremendous.
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