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SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- Netmarble Corp., a major South Korean game developer and publisher, said Thursday it swung to a net loss in the second quarter from a year earlier due to increased marketing and hiring expenditures.

The company logged a net loss of 120.5 billion won (US$92.5 million) on a consolidated basis in the three months ending in June, shifting from a net profit of 48.2 billion won a year earlier.

Netmarble also posted an operating loss of 34.7 billion won, compared with an operating profit of 16.2 billion won last year. Sales rose 14.4 percent to 660.6 billion won.

The company attributed the net profit loss to increased spending in marketing new releases, such as "Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds," its latest massively multiplayer online role playing game.

Marketing expenditure climbed 43.8 percent on-year to 144.4 billion won, and the company's personnel expenses also rose 22.7 percent to 189.7 billion won, as it hired more employees for new development projects.

Upcoming new titles to be released during the remainder of 2022 include "Monster Arena Ultimate Battle," "BTS Dream: TinyTAN House" and "King of Fighters: Arena."

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