Frontier Developments gets City approval for 'try it before you buy it' debut acquisition
The deal is "a low-risk way for Frontier to capitalise on the success of one of its partners at a sensible multiple," said one analyst
Company
LON:FDEV
Frontier's founder David Braben's work in games started way back in 1982 when David co-authored the seminal game "Elite". Frontier has built a uniquely diverse track record comprising games that have defined genres, been critically acclaimed and sold many millions of copies. We work with top publishers as well as self-publishing our own titles, and develop high quality, innovative games of different genres across all major gaming formats. We strive to make games that will put both Frontier and the games industry itself at the forefront of the world entertainment industry.
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The deal is "a low-risk way for Frontier to capitalise on the success of one of its partners at a sensible multiple," said one analyst
Both companies reported 20% plus increases in revenues today and should benefit from the expected growth in the gaming industry.
The video games publisher and developer also said it made a “pleasing” start to full year 2023 and is confident of delivering on current analyst expectations
Keywords Studios and Frontier Developments will give an insight into how the video games industry is faring
F1 Manager 2022 was also launched for pre-order customers this week
The company is due to release its F1 Manager 2022 game in two weeks, with Warhammer: Age of Sigmar pencilled in for next year as well as numerous titles from its Frontier Foundry label
The Jurrasic Park Evolution 2 theme-park sim was a driver of strong core and add-on sales following its release in November
Shares are down around 60% over the year after delays and disappointing sales
"We are confident Jurassic World Evolution 2 will still prove to be Frontier’s most successful franchise ever," the analysts said
The video game developer now expects revenue in the year to 31 May 2022 to be in the £100mln-130mln range, down from the previous forecast of £130mln-150mln
Credit Suisse thinks the shares have further to go
Helped by a new third-party publishing operation the group now has its ‘strongest ever’ games roadmap.
Gaming companies are increasingly benefiting for 'ongoing' games which keep player engaged and spending for longer.
Frontier Developments is set to release a year-end trading update next week
It expands on Frontier's relationship with Games Workshop and will be the third external title on the slate for 2020 at the Foundry label.
The group also unveiled a series of upcoming planned game releases, including a version of its Jurassic World Evolution title for Nintendo Switch
For the year ended 31 May, the video games developer expects to report revenues of around £76mln, while operating profit is expected to be at least £16mln
The videogame publisher said revenue will be in the top end of guidance thanks to higher demand during the coronavirus pandemic
The Cambridge-based game developer reiterated its expectation that revenue for the year ending 31 May 2020 will range between £65mln-£73mln
Analysis of Steam player data and conversations with management “suggest that pre-orders for Planet Zoo have been strong and are tracking similarly to those for Jurassic World Evolution”