The big financials roundup: May 2023 | Pocket Gamer.biz

Financials are the bread and butter of any good business publication, as even the most innocuous figures reveal interesting insights into the inner workings of often secretive businesses.

With a whole host of companies, developers and studios dropping their Q1 financial reports, here, in one place are all the players who are showing their hands this quarter. Click through on the links below to find out more.

May 25

NetEase generated $3.6 billion in revenue in Q1, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.3%. Gaming proved to be the company’s most successful segment, with mobile leading the charge, accounting for 72.3% of the company’s total gaming revenue.

Nvidia reported $7.2 billion in revenue in Q1 2023, representing a 6% increase from Q4 2022. Gaming was the company’s second largest sector, with revenue standing at $2.2 billion. Nvidia is forecasting further growth, including a record-breaking Q” at $11 billion in revenue.

May 24

Embracer Group saw lukewarm performance in Q1, with revenue falling 36% compared to Q4 2022. However, the company’s full-year report highlighted a 121% growth in sales, while the company’s mobile games saw a 19% year-on-year growth in revenue, standing at $54.2 million for the year.

May 23

Tencent generated a massive $21.8 billion in the first quarter of 2023, representing an 11% year-on-year increase. This indicates that the company has successfully navigated a turbulent 2022, which saw it lose its status as China’s biggest company.

Ten Square Games’ financials saw the company report $28 million in revenue in Q1 2023, while highlighting an increased focus on core titles, while halting additional projects.

May 22

Sea Group generated $3 billion in 2022, representing a 4.9% increase from 2021. However, the company’s digital entertainment branch disappointed, decreasing 43% to $539.7 million.

May 19

Nordcurrent reported major successes in 2022, with full-year revenue climbing 42% to $96.1 million. The company attributed this to successful launches and substantial investment in legacy titles.

May 18

Take-Two Interactive saw net revenue hit $5.35 billion in 2022, representing a 53% increase from 2021. The acquisition of Zynga was highlighted as a particular boon for the company, giving the company a major boost in its mobile presence.

Netmarble saw declines in both revenue and EBITDA in Q1, however the company remains bullish on its prospects, in part due to the upcoming releases of several games, including the Chinese release of five games.

May 17

Ubisoft saw significant declines throughout 2022, according to its latest full-year report. The company’s sales declined 56.1% while net bookings fell 52.8%, however the company remained optimistic, specifically highlighting the upcoming beta release of Rainbow Six Mobile.

May 16

Flexion reported strong revenue in Q1, reaching $20.3 million, a 54% increase from its already record-breaking result in Q4, highlighting an increased appetite for alternative app stores throughout the mobile industry as game makers attempt to circumvent the commission fees charged by Apple and Google.

May 15

Square Enix is another company that doesn’t separate up it’s various platforms into mobile and console. However, overall their financials were very healthy with $2.5bn in net sales, and the company has been releasing numerous licenced titles from the blockbuster Final Fantasy franchise to mobile.

May 12

AppLovin was another company that continued to win big despite wider economic uncertainty. The platform generated $715.4m in revenue in Q1 2023, it continued to make the majority of its money from apps, but the company’s software platform also continued to rise.

Yu-Gi-Oh publisher Konami, saw mixed results, with an increase of 4.9% in revenue but a fall in profits despite their presence on mobile with games like Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel. The company has struggled due to macroeconomic pressures they’ve had difficulty overcoming.

Nexon celebrated a record breaking first quarter, with its mobile gaming branch leading the way to $923.1 million in Q1 revenue. Operating income also rose substantially, hitting $418.7 million – a 46.1% year-on-year increase.

May 11

Ever since the ironSource merger and a host of layoffs, observers have been closely watching Unity. But the company continues to be profitable, and this time around John Riccitiello was happy to offer his thoughts on how AI will contribute to the company’s continued success as a game growth and creation platform -especially with the addition of ad bidding to their LevelPlay solution.

Roblox continued its meteoric rise, after mostly sitting in the background it got a huge boost during the Covid pandemic, and is now one of the platforms leading the way in the metaverse concept. Their DAU and revenue was up by 22% as an older and more affluent audience engages with the platform.

Slovak studio Pixel Federation has continued to grow despite the pressures of the post-Covid slump. A drop in sales was met with a rise in players on some of their titles like TrainStation 2, and a commitment to maintaining their climate pledges.

Bandai Namco’s financials didn’t do much to differentiate their broader digital sales from mobile, unfortunately. However, the company remains strong with an 11.3% increase in sales and their network division – comprising mobile games as well as some PC titles – saw $1.4bn in revenue.

The big news for Capcom is of course the upcoming release of Monster Hunter Now. Their financials reveal that although mobile remains a relatively minor part of their overall business, with console and PC the most lucrative, mobile is a focus of their long term strategy. Capcom wants to make Monster Hunter Now the lynchpin of their mobile strategy in the near future, and in the long-term there’s an increased focus on integration, esports and more.

May 10

EA seemed to take their eye off the ball. Despite a rapid 48% growth thanks to the release of FIFA Mobile, slowing only to 1% of growth. Although not a contraction it does seem that EA’s mobile division isn’t sustaining it’s impressive growth.

Nintendo may see mobile gaming primarily as a marketing strategy, but mobile gaming proved to be somewhat resilient, with a 4.2% drop year-on-year drop in 2022 compared to a 5.5% decrease in company wide revenue over the same period.

May 9

Krafton, despite ongoing issues trying to have their Indian version of PUBG reinstated by the country, offered a look at how well their mobile division was doing overall. With record quarterly sales at $407.8m and reports of proactive investments and research into deep learning technologies.

May 4

Stillfront Group generated 1.758 MSEK in Q1 2023, representing a 5% year-on-year increase from 1677 MSEK in the same period of 2022. Bookings rose 3% year-on-year across the company’s active portfolio, however mashup and casual games saw 3% declines, while remaining the company’s biggest genre.

May 3

Rovio had reason to celebrate in its latest quarterly report, despite a year-on-year decrease in revenue. Operating profit and EBITDA both saw substantial increases, with Angry Birds Dream Blast standing out as the company’s biggest game with a 67.7% increase in gross bookings.

All of these financials paint a relatively positive picture for the mobile game industry, as the effects of the post-Covid slump are becoming more distant. However, the quarter has certainly seen some bumps in the road, so hopefully a more affluent investment environment and the on-going new normal can help assure mobile publishers and studios.