Kakao Games reported a consolidated operating loss of ₩26.3 billion (about US$18 million) for July–September 2026 on 4 November, as revenue fell 46% year on year to ₩69.1 billion. The company’s investor relations archive lists the third-quarter results, and ZDNet Korea reports that mobile revenue dropped 40% to ₩50.6 billion and PC revenue 57% to ₩18.5 billion. The company blamed a quarter without new releases and the slow decline of its older games.
It is the third loss-making quarter of 2026. Kakao Games lost ₩25.5 billion on revenue of ₩82.9 billion in the first quarter, Inven Global reported, and ₩23 billion on ₩75 billion in the second, according to Digital Today.
A pixel-art MMORPG and a social casino buy
On the earnings call, executives called the quarter the low point and said the recovery starts in the fourth quarter,Inven reports. Part of the loss came from marketing spent in advance for Dokkaebi’s World (도깨비의세계), an MMORPG developed by Supercat on the Naver web novel and webtoon Myeolgwi Sudo Jeon. Byline Network describes it as 2D pixel-art characters on 3D backgrounds; it launched on 8 October on PC and mobile and reached first place on Google Play’s Korean top-grossing chart within five days, staying there since, according to ZDNet Korea. Co-CEO Kim Tae-hwan told analysts it has the largest player base of any MMORPG Kakao Games has launched, and that multiple accounts are banned, so the number is not inflated. The company did not disclose revenue or player figures. Inven reports a global release on Steam and mobile planned for the second quarter of 2027.
The other lever is Mituon, a social casino and casual game company with most of its business overseas. Kakao Games agreed in September to pay about ₩98 billion for a 39.56% stake, combining existing shares and new shares, News Tomato reported; Mituon made an operating profit of ₩8.7 billion on ₩47.9 billion of revenue in the first half of 2026. Executives said on the call that the deal has not yet closed, and that they expect its results to be consolidated from the fourth quarter.
The release schedule behind the forecast: ArcheAge Chronicles entered Steam early access on 4 November, Path of Exile 2 gets its full Korean launch on 12 December, and Odin Q, a new MMORPG from Odin developer Lionheart Studio, is due in January 2027 in Korea, Taiwan and Japan. Executives told Inven they aim for a return to profit after Odin Q launches; CFO Shin Kwon-ho declined to name a revenue level at which that would happen. The original Odin received a Chinese import licence in October, as GameTales reported.