The Korea Times is reporting that NCsoft's game business may be waning a bit, leading the largest online game company in Korea to turn towards non-gaming internet services. This year, the company has released four different social networking services from its in-house studio, Openmaru.

Two of the services, MyIDnet and Life Pod are personal data and scheduling programs, while NCsoft's Spring Note and Rolling List are social networking platforms. The company is also reported to be exploring the ISP arena, eyeing a place to break in between dominant regional portal operators.

NCsoft's sales reached 161 billion won ($175 million) primarily driven by its most popular MMOs, Lineage and Lineage 2, which have earned the company a combined 1.5 trillion won ($1.6 billion) since 1997. But those games are reported to be losing subscribers, with a 16 percent drop in Lineage revenues in NCsoft's fiscal second quarter.

PC games, ``Lineage'' and ``Lineage II.'' Both have earned the company more than 1.5 trillion won since 1997, but are gradually losing subscribers. In the second quarter alone, its revenue fell by 16 percent.

Additionally, the company's latest U.S. product, Tabula Rasa, spearheaded by renowned Ultima developer Richard "Lord British" Garriott, has apparently not been performing to the company's expectations amid mixed reception from players and game critics. According to the Korea Times, NCsoft will continue to monitor U.S. sales despite "ups and downs."

Despite this evidence, an NCsoft spokesperson apparently denied the shift in stance to the Korea times, stressing that games are the company's main business, the source of 100 percent of its sales.

[Via Korea Times]