Global gaming brand MY.GAMES has announced revenue growth of 46% YoY in the second quarter of 2020 to $152m. The company reached 700mn registered users globally in Q2, driven by ongoing international expansion. Overall, international revenue for MY.GAMES increased by 54% YoY in Q2, reaching 74%, with the largest markets in Europe being Germany (+34% YoY), UK (+77% YoY) and France (+55% YoY). Key growth drivers for the quarter were the launch of new products on consoles and continued strong performance in the mobile segment, which is one of the fastest-growing segments for the video games industry worldwide.
“The unprecedented challenges faced by the world and the games industry in 2020 have had a noticeable impact on our results this quarter. Due to worldwide lockdown measures, we have seen an overall increase in the number of players playing our games and in the amount of time spent playing them,” said Volker Boenigk, General Manager of MY.GAMES Amsterdam. “MY.GAMES operates three main divisions: development, publishing, and investment. We have been actively engaged in the European games industry for some time, publishing major titles such as Conqueror’s Blade. As our growth this quarter shows, we are experienced in bringing both PC and console games to the European market and scaling them effectively. As we move forward, we will be looking to reinvest our growth from this quarter into new partners and teams.”
In the UK, revenue growth on MY.GAMES console titles increased by 150% YoY, driven primarily by the May launch of its new premium Warface tactical first-person shooter title, Warface: Breakout. The game was developed by the Allods Team, an internal studio that has already successfully brought the original Warface to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The game is especially popular in the US, with over 56% of sales coming from the country. The launch resulted in overall revenue growth for the Warface franchise revenue growth in Q2, up by 400% YoY in the US, and by 300% YoY in the UK.
67% of MY.GAMES revenues came from mobile in Q2, with top-5 revenue-generating mobile games in Q2 being War Robots, Hustle Castle, Left to Survive, Love Sick: Interactive Stories, and Zero City. In-app spending in MY.GAMES titles grew by 39% during H1, significantly higher than the global average of 21.2% YoY. Overall mobile revenue increased by 65% YoY in the UK.
“In the face of challenges posed to our global teams, we successfully launched three titles in Q2,” continued Boenigk. “We also smoothly integrated with a new partner, BeIngame, to support Zero City on mobile. We are constantly reaching new audiences as our portfolio diversifies and grows. Despite the mitigation of risks needed in the industry right now, we will continue hitting our targets throughout 2020 and 2021. We are developing over 15 new games and continue to operate and support over 60 games in more than 190 countries, with MY.GAMES’ first-party IPs accounting for approximately 90% of our total revenue. While we expect player behaviour may return to normal later this year, we have consistently outpaced the gaming market’s growth in what could have been a difficult period. Going forward, we are focusing on achieving our forecasted annual financial results.”
Global MY.GAMES Mobile Highlights
- In Q2 MY.GAMES launched two new mobile games: Dino Squad, and World Above: Cloud Harbor
- Hustle Castle (released in 2016 by Nord Studio) saw a 53.5% increase in registrations in April and has achieved 64m in downloads. In light of COVID, the game reached another monthly revenue record of ~$10mn, while remaining among the brand’s highest EBITDA generators.
- MY.GAMES aims to boost its expertise in the RPG strategy genre while expanding Nord Studio, which is also operating the recently consolidated Zero City (>10mn downloads) as well as American Dad! Apocalypse Soon.
- American Dad! Apocalypse Soon (6mn downloads) also performed well, with a 78% increase in revenue in the UK compared to Q1.
- Left to Survive from Whalekit reached 25mn downloads and hit a monthly revenue record of $3mn in June.
- Love Sick: Interactive Stories increased installs fivefold QoQ in Q2, with approximately 19mn downloads since its launch last February. Revenue for the narrative-driven mobile game in the US also grew by 162% compared to Q2 2019.
Global MY.GAMES PC and Consoles Highlights
- In Q2 MY.GAMES launched one new console game Warface: Breakout.
- Warface’s Switch audience reached 2.5m since its launch on February 18. In total, US revenues in Q2 for the Warface franchise grew by 400% YoY, and by 300% YoY in the UK.
- Conqueror’s Blade (PC, released in 2019), reached 2.7mn players in Q2, with rapid growth in March (+85% MoM) and April (+64% MoM).
“We remain hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be under control, but we must strive to remain dynamic,” added Volker Boenigk. “We are constantly monitoring global developments regarding COVID-19, but we will continue seeking new investment initiatives and opportunities for growth in spite of this. We look forward to delivering even more world-class games and content to our players and sharing the continued success of MY.GAMES with our regional partners, developers, and communities.”
Throughout 2020, MY.GAMES has supported COVID-19 initiatives to encourage players to continue social distancing. In March the company launched the #PlayAtHomeStandUnited campaign before joining the WHO backed #PlayApartTogether campaign in April. MY.GAMES has also been supporting their players’ mental health, conducting a survey into the well being of their users and offering free mobile advertising space to charities in May.
The full Q2 report can be read here: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/MAIL/unaudited-ifrs-results-for-q2-2020/14625673
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