Zynga Reports Massive Losses YoY


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Zynga has posted their second quarter figures for 2014 and the results are less than stellar, depressing even. The creator of Farmville posted a 34 percent drop in revenue compared to last year, with net income dropping down to $2.8 million from $6.1 million. The company continued its ongoing losses with a dramatic rise from $15.8 million last year to $62.5 million.

Last year was not good for Zynga, as the developer/publisher faced a revolving door of top executives resigning as well as the continued diminishing popularity of their games. Last year at this time, Zynga boasted 39 million daily active users, 187 million monthly active users, and 123 million monthly unique users. Those numbers plummeted to 29 million, 130 million, and 89 million respectively. Farmville 2 and Zynga Poker make up the bulk of Zynga’s revenue, 32% and 24% respectively.

Despite these losses, Zynga is looking to expand into two new mobile categories: Sports and endless runners. Zynga has formed a multi-year partnership with the NFL to create games for mobile devices. The company is projecting lower losses next quarter and increased revenue.

(Source: CNN Money)

Funcom Q1 2014 Finances


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Funcom has released their quarterly returns for the first quarter of 2014, and the results are certainly interesting to look at. Revenues have remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly to $3.8 million from $4.2 million last quarter. Funcom has seen a steady decrease in revenue since the launch of The Secret World, with revenues at nearly half of what they were in the first quarter of last year, $6.3 million. Despite the lowered revenue, Funcom’s cash position improved from $2.5 to $2.8 million over last quarter. The company also noted that 15 million shares were sold to the tune of $5.5 million which was used to pay interest bearing debt.

The upcoming Lego Minifigures video game hit all of its major milestones and is on course for a beta launch in June 2014 and a commercial launch later this year. Nothing has changed regarding last year’s investigation into Funcom by Økokrim. Funcom’s offices were raided last year by the Norway’s economic crimes unit and is currently being investigated for possible insider trading and negligence. There are no details on how long the investigation will take.

(Source: Funcom presentation)

Star Vault Sees Q1 Bump In 2014


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Star Vault has released their Q1 2014 finances and the results are actually looking good. Net sales broke one hundred thousand for the quarter, up heavily from the previous quarter’s report of eighty one thousand. Net profit remains in the red but increased severely over the previous two quarters, from one hundred fifty thousand in the red down to eighty three thousand. If Star Vault can keep this momentum going, the company will be in the black by the end of the third quarter.

As usual, Henrik Nystrom made his quarterly address.

During the first quarter of 2014 marked by a continued positive trend in increased player activity in Mortal Online. Meanwhile, we have the beginning of 2014, working with a major focus for the planned release on STEAM, the world’s largest online distributor of PC games. Mortal Online will then be posted on a global playlist daily visited by between 4-6 million players worldwide. In February, the game engine Unreal Engine updated, resulting in a large number of improvements in place. Briefly, the above, including both graphical quality and performance improved, which facilitates the creation of a new continent in the game, so we can handle a larger number of players.

With the new continent will face in Mortal Online will be doubled and the new Territory Control will enable us to offer unique features. These features will be released in stages before release. In our industry it is known that all releases are unpredictable and I think it’s important to be clear that although we will encounter problems in the same way as the major players, but we’re doing what we can to be prepared. One of the major challenges in the industry is of course to bring in new players, but also to maintain the existing players by offering a consistently high quality. The competition is tough and you have to deliver. We will just as before to continue to be very honest with our player and also allow them to participate and judge when we have what it takes for a successful release on STEAM. 

As previously announced, of course, both the content and quality priority, which means that we update the plan we had from the beginning, to gain more time for testing and bug fixing before release. In this overall development plan to release the work has been divided into six blocks; Engine update (completed and is live), development of the Territory control, test and release of Territory Control continent’s development, test and release of the continents, and the testing and release of Steam API (Application Programming Interface). Each block has a lead time of about one month, while parts of the work of the various blocks is done in parallel. 

We have since the beginning of the year even able to announce a new functionality in the form of that Mortal Online has built-in support for Oculus Rift. Oculus Rift can be described as the next generation of virtual reality headsets and developed by the company Oculus VR. In March 2014 it was announced that Facebook, Inc. decided to buy the project for about two billion dollars. By playing Mortal Online with Oculus Rift given increased playing experience then, so to speak “comes into play.” Turn the head of the unit really does play the character in the game too. One sees also the depth and 3D by Oculus, which can provide some benefits in Mortal Online because you always play the game in first person view. When Oculus Rift released, we think players will be interested to try the dedicated first-person games such as Mortal Online, which is the first mmo game that is exclusively dedicated first person only, and therefore lends itself very well to play with Oculus rift. 

Henrik Nystrom 
CEO, Star Vault AB

Editor’s note: Figures are provided by the Aktietorget stock exchange. All figures are presented in US Dollars using conversions provided by Citibank NA and reflect trading values on the day of reporting. Henrik Nystrom’s statements are automatically translated by Google and may contain various spelling or grammatical errors. 

Star Vault Posts Lower Fourth Quarter


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Star Vault has posted their fourth quarter results for 2013, and the results are not looking so great. Net sales during the fourth quarter amounted to over eighty five thousand, a very small loss from the previous quarter. Net profit, on the other hand, dropped further into the red to one hundred fifty three thousand.

Despite this loss, Star Vault reported an increase in monthly payments during the fourth quarter compared to the third with CEO Henrik Nystrom claiming a positive increase in player activity over the year. In September, Mortal Online was approved for release on Steam through the Greenlight program, which will open the game to a wider audience.

Henrik Nystrom commented on the upcoming Steam launch:

Thanks to hard work and a faithful, active player community became Mortal Online, in competition with 15,000 other games around the world, approved to be listed on STEAM. STEAM is the world’s largest online distributor of PC games and we were voted by over 70,000 players. Mortal Online will then be posted on a global playlist daily visited by between 4-6 million players worldwide.

Through private placements and player donations, we have added the capital required for achieving progress and deliver new features, but especially to hone in on the launch so that it is just as good as global players require today. We are also working to expand the so-called “physical game faces” in Mortal Online, which means that we can handle more players.

We have seen a cautious positive trend of increased player activity during the year and now look forward to the upcoming launch of exciting opportunities.

The upcoming Annual General Meeting will decide on a replacement for the position of deputy director following the passing of Ulfric Nystrom.

(Source: AktieTorget)

Webzen Posts 67% Drop In Annual Profits


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Webzen has released their 2013 earnings release, and the results are a mixture of bad and probably salvageable. Despite a 26% rise in revenue over last year, operating profits dropped by 67%. To put the loss into better perspective, Webzen’s 2012 revenue amounted to $53.6 million USD (approximately), with $45.6 million of that going toward operating expenses, leaving around $8 million left as operating profit and that doesn’t even factor in taxes. In 2013, while revenue gained 26% to $67.47 million, operating costs surged even higher by 42% to $64.87 million. So while revenues grew during the year, operating costs resulted in the final operating profit plummeting.

With a number of titles still in development, Webzen’s portfolio is looking rather slim at the moment. The last year saw the shuttering of Archlord, SUN, and Arctic Combat, with only two of the four games currently listed on Webzen’s global website actually being playable. Games like R2 and Mu Rebirth are still “upcoming,” with development continuing on other titles including Archlord 2. Also worth noting is that revenue from domestic sales fell slightly while overseas grew by a wide margin to 73% of Webzen’s total revenue.

Another factor of operating cost could be related to Webzen’s 100% acquisition of gPotato.com back in February.

(Source: Webzen Earnings)

NCSoft Q4 2013 Looking Good Thanks To Blade & Soul


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NCSoft has released their Q4 2013 finances, and things are looking up for the Korean developer. Following the company’s major dip in the previous quarter, sales have recovered by 24% and profits by 85%, with pre-tax income up a staggering 97% over last quarter. Total sales amounted to $197 million in the fourth quarter, with operating profit at over $54 million. Royalty revenues from Blade & Soul contributed heavily to this outcome, thanks to the game’s ongoing success in China. Lineage continued to grow in Korea despite being the oldest game in the library, with Guild Wars 2 holding strong in its associated territories.

As already stated, Lineage saw a large rise in sales. Guild Wars 2 and Lineage II also saw bumps in revenue, with Aion remaining on a slight decline from the last couple of quarters. While Blade & Soul’s direct revenue decreased over last quarter, this presumably does not factor in sales from royalties in territories where the game is selling quite well. Cost of labor and marketing decreased year over year thanks to layoffs and launches of Guild Wars 2 and Blade & Soul respectively.

(Source: NCSoft Finances)

Star Vault Q3 2013 Finances


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Star Vault has released their third quarter finances, and odds are if you are taking the time to read this, you already have an idea of what is coming next. The good news is that, according to Henrik Nyström, third quarter subscription numbers saw a rise compared to the previous quarter, although net sales dropped slightly and net profit dropped approximately thirty percent. The number of registered users on the forum has also increased over last quarter, the financial report shows.

The other good news is that Mortal Online may be set for an infusion of new players. In September, Mortal Online was officially greenlit for release on the Steam platform. In response to this news, the board conducted a private placement of 2.6 million shares to several private investors to increase development toward a Steam release.

Our hearts also go out to the family and friends of Ulf Nyström, father of Henrik Nyström, who recently passed away due to illness. The board has decided not to fill his position immediately, but to wait until the 2014 Annual General Meeting.

Funcom's Third Quarter Finances


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Funcom has released their third quarter results for 2013, and as usual the results are a mix of the good and the bad. Revenues in the third quarter amounted to $5.3 million, a decrease over the same time last year when The Secret World initially launched. A significant operating cost decrease combined with tax credits allowed for a $2.2 million cash flow compared to a slight loss in the previous quarter.

The main source of revenue for this past quarter came from The Secret World and Age of Conan, consistent with last quarter but lower than last year. Revenue in all games went down due to high profile game releases including Grand Theft Auto V. Work continues on the engine upgrade for Anarchy Online, and further initiatives are being pursued across all titles despite a relatively stable quarter for The Secret World and Age of Conan.

Funcom’s upcoming title, Lego Minifigures, is maintaining its development schedule, and was met with a positive response at its public showing in Cologne, Germany. The company expects lower revenue in the next quarter.

Funcom Q2 2013 Finances


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Funcom has released their 2nd quarter finances for 2013, and the results are certainly figures. So for the sake of brevity, let’s go over some figures, shall we? Revenues in Q2 more than doubled those from the same time last year, however Funcom has yet to return to a positive cash flow. Revenues reached 5.4 million, however earnings before interest in tax -253 thousand, a massive improvement over the -47 million from same time last year. Funcom began a restructuring process earlier this year which concluded in May and has left the company close to cash flow neutral, burning just forty two thousand compared to the four million from last quarter. More cash flow improvements are expected to be seen in the latter half of the year.

On the game side, Age of Conan and The Secret World continue to be Funcom’s major sources of revenue, with The Secret World noted specifically for positively affecting the developer’s cash flow. Last quarter, Funcom consolidated its studios into a single location in Durham, North Carolina, focusing on running the existing portfolio as well as working on additional titles.

Funcom’s continuing projects include structuring the Dreamworld engine so that it can be used in mobile and tablet systems. Work continues (allegedly) on the engine updates for Anarchy Online. Funcom’s upcoming games include LEGO Minifigures Online as well as a slate of mobile titles and work-for-hire operations that encompass lower development periods and faster sources of revenue.

(Source: Funcom Release)

Funcom's Q1 2013 Finances


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Funcom has released their Q1 2013 financial details and the news is…good? Revenues have almost tripled compared to the same time last year thanks to the launch of The Secret World last year, which along with Age of Conan now make up the bulk of Funcom’s revenue. As many of you know, Funcom consolidated its live teams to the hub in Durham, North Carolina. Moving forward, the focus is on the developer’s currently operational games as well as a small number of titles currently in development.

As per the above, the company expects the positive effect from the restructuring to materialize in full in the second half of the year. However, significant cost savings were realized in 1Q13 and the operating costs decreased by 1,197 TUSD compared to the previous quarter and by 2,232 TUSD compared to 1Q12.

The Secret World enjoyed its first full quarter under the new buy to play system, increasing player numbers and retention along with the launch of Issue #6: The Last Train To Cairo. Issue #7 releases this summer. Anarchy Online experienced a server merger which increased activity and players on the remaining servers. Funcom continues to work on the major engine upgrade to Anarchy Online. The Lego Minifigures MMO is on schedule for release and is currently in development for the PC in both client and browser form, as well as tablets.

One of Funcom’s lesser known titles, Fashion Week Live, was sold to 505 Games in Q1 2013. Funcom’s Montreal studio is currently working on bringing the Dreamworld technology to tablets, opening new opportunities for the developer. Funcom expects more cost reductions and lower revenues in the second quarter.

(Source: Funcom Finances)