SEOUL, South Korea's online gaming firm Nexon Co. said Tuesday its net profit dropped 31 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. Its net profit came to 321 billion won (US$234.2 million) for the January-March period, compared with 507.1 billion won a year ago, the Japan-listed firm said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit slid 48 percent on-year to 260.5 billion won, and sales dropped 13 percent to 968.9 billion won. Nexon said its first-quarter earnings decreased in comparison to record-high quarterly sales and operating profit a year earlier, but exceeded market expectations. The company said its franchise games, FC Online and FC Mobile, as well as role-playing game (RPG) Blue Archive, delivered a strong performance thanks to their global popularity. It plans to release new titles, including global looter shooter game, The First Descendant, a mobile version of the popular anime massively multiplayer online role playing game Mabinogi, and hardcore RPG, The First Berserker: Khazan this ye ar. Next week, a mobile version of Nexon's smash hit title, Dungeon and Fighter, will also hit the Chinese market. Nexon was founded in South Korea in 1994 but is headquartered in Japan. The company's stocks were listed on the Tokyo stock exchange in late 2011. Source: Yonhap News Agency