Melbourne game studio no longer playing on the side

Australia’s largest publicly listed video games developer, PlaySide Studios (ASX: PLY), has delivered a record year today in another period of consecutive growth.

PlaySide has hit records across the board; commercial revenue came in at $29.24 million, a significant increase of 169% from $10.88 million in FY21. Record EBITDA of $5.9 million, was up slightly from $5.4 million in FY21. Along with achieving NPAT positivity of $4.85 million, recovering from an NPAT loss of -$5.88 million in FY21.

Record revenue can be directly attributed to a successful year in development which saw the Company launch its BEAN NFT collection, and flagship original IP game Age of Darkness: Final Stand, as well as several mobile games. 

Notably, the Studio acquired the Dumb Ways To Die (DWTD) franchise for $2.25 million in February 2022, on which the Company based its BEAN NFT collection. The release saw over 7,000 NFTs sold to buyers, with customers paying 0.3 ETH or $1,280 to ‘mint’ each image into existence. 

The Company said it had booked $8.38 million in net revenue that quarter following the launch and has continued to earn royalties every time the NFTs are resold. However, since then the market for NFTs has plummeted,with some of the most popular tokens declining in value by 75% on average, with less-popular NFTs declining even more. 

Throughout FY22, the Studio worked in collaboration with some big names in the game development and blockchain world; 2K Games, Activision Blizzard, Shiba Inu Coin, and Meta, which ultimately drove work-for-hire revenue 185% higher to $10.16 million from $3.57 million during the previous corresponding period (pcp).

“I am very proud of the progress and strong growth that we achieved in FY22. We worked extremely hard to deliver record revenue and profit and significantly grow both our Original IP and work-for-hire divisions. We delivered high quality titles and partnered with top studios and industry influencers while strengthening our global reputation and reinforcing our capabilities,” said PlaySide CEO Gerry Sakkas. 

With these record numbers, the Company has oriented itself for year-over-year growth, holding onto a strong cash position of $37.91 million as of 30 June 2022. 

Recently in July 2022, the Company announced the launch of its third-party publishing division, PlaySide Publishing, where the new division will solely focus on PC and Console game titles given the revenue opportunities in this segment.

In line with its growth plans, PlaySide will continue to invest in game development and its work-for-hire portfolio, and more particularly, heavy investments into original IP titles across mobile, PC and Console. Currently the Company has a deep pipeline of anticipated releases due for FY23 and beyond. 

“Several launches are planned in FY23 including Legally Blonde, The Godfather, World Boss and Age of Darkness: Final Stand (full launch). These are exciting times for PlaySide and its shareholders and we look forward to continue delivering on our growth trajectory.”