In a world where imagination knows no bounds and technology has enough power to support it, gaming continues to grow as a cultural phenomenon that captivates 3 billion players worldwide of all ages and backgrounds. Popular game genres tend to alternate with whatever happens to catch the eyes of gamers at that time.
First-person shooters held that title for a long time before it turned to battle royales, and now it seems like it’s survival games’ turn to be in the spotlight, therefore prompting game developer and publisher PlaySide Studios (ASX: PLY) to now include Dynasty of the Sands on its portfolio. In this new agreement, PlaySide will act as a publisher for the Ancient Egypt inspired creative/survival city builder game alongside original developer Rocket Flair Studios. The game is set to be launched in Early Access on PC in 2024, and would be the first game published under PlaySide Publishing. PlaySide will also be responsible for marketing and promoting the title and will pay Rocket Flair Studios a share of net revenue from the sale of the game.
PlaySide will also support Rocket Flair Studios in meeting industry standards and agreed milestones for the game development leading up to the launch.
Harley Homewood, Global Head of PlaySide Publishing commented, “We are thrilled to be working with Rocket Flair Studios in bringing its vision for a relaxing, creative strategy game to life.”
Homewood also revealed that PlaySide had spent ten months building a support team for the Publishing division, and the Company is already looking into signing more exciting indie titles to be released under the PlaySide Publishing banner.
PlaySide admits that it cannot predict the likely revenues to be generated by the game, but the Company assumes that it could generate between US$2 to $20 million (and above) revenues from Indie titles on PC and Console in the first two years as stated on its H1 FY23 guidance. PlaySide will invest around $1-5m for the duration of 12-18 months to develop the games before they are ready for publishing.
Founded in 2011, PlaySide Studios provides titles in a range of categories, including self-published games based on original intellectual property and game development services in collaboration with studios such as Take-Two Interactive, Activision Blizzard, Meta, Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros, and Nickelodeon. The company’s portfolio consists of approximately 60 titles that are delivered across multiple platforms including mobile, virtual reality, augmented reality, and PC. Some of its most popular titles are Legally Blonde (500k mobile downloads in Q2 FY23), and Dumb Ways to Die, which the Company acquired back in October 2021 and has generated $12m revenue in the fifteen months since acquisition to 31 December 2022. PlaySide has signed a deal with Netflix in December 2022 for the development and release of new game Dumb Ways to Survive on the Netflix Games platform.
In Q3 FY23, the Company recorded revenue of $9.3m, a slight decrease from $10m revenue acquired in the previous quarter but a 73% improvement from revenue on previous corresponding period (pcp) of $5.4m. Original Intellectual Property (IP) revenues hit a record of $5m revenue thanks to a spike in downloads and ad revenues from the Dumb Ways to Die portfolio, which was $1.9m ahead of expectations. This was the result of a viral resurgence in brand activity, initially on TikTok but eventually spreading to other social media platforms. With cash receipts of $11.5m and net operating cash inflow of $1.7m, PlaySide managed to increase its net cash balance to $31.2m compared to $29.8m cash in the previous quarter.
The Company expects FY23 revenue to be in excess of $35m (70%+ growth on pcp).
Clara is a Business Reporter for The Sentiment.
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