NetEase's games net revenues rose 6.9% from a year earlier to RMB 25.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, from public records. Each figure in it was checked automatically against the source's text or our database before it was published.

On May 21, 2026, NetEase, the internet and game services company listed on Nasdaq and the Hong Kong exchange, announced unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, in a Form 6-K, the report a foreign company sends the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Net revenues were RMB 30.6 billion, up 6.1% from RMB 28.8 billion in the same quarter of 2025.1^,2^,3^,4^,5

Net revenues from games and related value-added services, the games segment, were RMB 25.7 billion, up 6.9% from the same quarter of 2025 and up from RMB 22.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. Online games made up about 97.5% of that segment's net revenues in the quarter. NetEase said the increases, from the previous quarter and from a year earlier, came from higher revenues from self-developed games, such as the Fantasy Westward Journey franchise and Where Winds Meet. It named Identity V, Eggy Party and Sword of Justice, alongside them, among established titles with sustained strong engagement and revenue. For global expansion, it pointed to Where Winds Meet and Marvel Rivals, a game NetEase develops and publishes. It said Blizzard titles maintained stable operations in China, with a steady rollout of localized content.6^,7^,8^,9^,10^,11^,12^,13

Gross profit rose 14.8% to RMB 21.2 billion, from RMB 18.5 billion a year earlier. Cost of revenues fell to RMB 9.4 billion from RMB 10.3 billion a year earlier, which NetEase attributed mainly to lower revenue-sharing costs related to platforms. Net income attributable to shareholders was RMB 10.7 billion, against RMB 10.3 billion a year earlier and RMB 6.2 billion in the fourth quarter. NetEase's non-GAAP net income attributable to shareholders, its own measure, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, was RMB 11.3 billion, against RMB 11.2 billion a year earlier.14^,15^,16^,17^,18^,19^,20

The board approved a dividend for the quarter of US$0.144 per share, or US$0.720 per ADS (an American depositary share, each representing five ordinary shares), to holders as of the close of business on June 5, 2026. NetEase also said that, under a repurchase program of up to US$5.0 billion extended to January 9, 2029, it had bought back about 23.2 million ADSs for US$2.1 billion as of March 31, 2026. William Ding, its chief executive, said the company delivered another solid quarter across its established gaming portfolio while making steady progress on its pipeline of new titles.21^,22^,23^,24^,25^,26