Shares in Frontier Developments PLC (LON:FDEV) roared higher on Monday morning after the video games creator revealed its next game will be called Jurassic World Evolution.
The game – which is based around the Jurassic World film franchise – will be launched on PC, PlayStation and Xbox next summer.
Frontier's third major video game
Its release date will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original Jurassic Park film as well as the next chapter of the Jurassic World franchise – Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – which is due out in June 2018.
Jurassic World Evolution will be AIM-quoted Frontier’s third major self-published game franchise, following on from Elite Dangerous in 2014 and Planet Coaster last year.
“Jurassic World Evolution is a continuation of Frontier's strategy of creating self-published franchises that build on our world-class expertise to deliver high quality, sophisticated gameplay experiences.
“It will be our first self-published title to debut on PC, PlayStation and Xbox simultaneously, and the first to benefit from such a major marketing event as the theatrical release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.”
Jurassic Park is one of the most popular film franchises ever
The original Jurassic Park film was the highest grossing film of all-time until Titanic came along, while 2015’s adaptation raked in US$1.7bn, making it the fourth most lucrative film ever.
finnCap analyst Harold Evans thinks the obvious popularity of the brand among various ages, as well as the fact that the game will get a tow from the movie’s release should all help Frontier.
“The combination of Jurassic Park’s global appeal, the likely level of publicity ahead of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Frontier’s proven expertise suggest that Frontier’s third self-published franchise will be its most successful to date,” said Evans.
The analyst also points out that Frontier has experience in developing this particular type of game, which should stand it in good stead.
“Jurassic World Evolution will be a 'Sim' game i.e. one that allows players to manage and build their own park.
“Given this, we believe that Frontier is highly qualified considering its success with Planet Coaster (another Sim game) and previous to this, their ‘work for hire’ titles such as Zoo Tycoon and Kinectimals, which overlap in being animal-related.”
In mid-morning trade, Frontier shares were Up 15.1% to 846.5p.