TIDMFDEV
RNS Number : 5643B
Frontier Developments PLC
11 June 2021
11 June 2021
Frontier Developments plc
Trading Statement and Game Announcement
Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV, 'Frontier', the 'Group' or
the 'Company') , a leading developer and publisher of videogames
based in Cambridge, UK, announces Jurassic World Evolution 2, the
much-anticipated sequel to the highly successful Jurassic World
Evolution (2018), and provides an update on trading following the
end of Frontier's financial year 2021 ("FY21" - the 12 months to 31
May 2021).
HIGHLIGHTS
-- Announced on 10 June 2021 at Summer Game Fest, an
industry-wide celebration of video games, Jurassic World Evolution
2 builds on the major success of Jurassic World Evolution,
Frontier's biggest selling game to date, which released in June
2018
-- Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the major global licensed IP
title which was previously unrevealed on Frontier's future roadmap.
This much-anticipated sequel will release later in calendar 2021
(in FY22)
-- Continued strong performance across the whole game portfolio
delivered record annual revenue for FY21 - provisional unaudited
FY21 revenue is approximately GBP91 million
-- Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, our major expansion for the iconic
space game Elite Dangerous (2014), released on PC on 19 May
2021
-- Coronavirus-related development challenges continue to be
well managed. However, for prudent planning reasons the Board now
anticipate that our F1 2022 management game may release in early
FY23 (after 1 June 2022) as opposed to late FY22 (before 31 May
2022)
-- Based on the anticipated ongoing performance of the existing
portfolio, combined with an exciting release schedule for FY22
including Jurassic World Evolution 2, the Board's projected revenue
range for FY22 is GBP130 million to GBP150 million, which prudently
assumes our 2022 F1 management game is released in early FY23
-- For FY23 the Board's projected revenue range is GBP160
million to GBP180 million, based on the anticipated performance of
our current and future game franchises, together with a growing
contribution from our games label for third-party publishing,
Frontier Foundry
JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION 2
Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to the
highly successful Jurassic World Evolution. Based on Universal
Pictures' blockbuster film franchise and created in collaboration
with Universal Games and Digital Platforms, Jurassic World
Evolution 2 builds upon the ground-breaking and beloved 2018
dinosaur park management simulation, offering players a thrilling
front seat as they take charge of their own Jurassic World park.
With a brand-new immersive narrative campaign voiced by cast
members from across the Jurassic World film franchise, exciting new
features, four engaging game modes, and an enhanced and expanded
roster of dinosaurs, Jurassic World Evolution 2 provides fans with
everything they need to create authentic and compelling Jurassic
World experiences.
In Jurassic World Evolution 2, for the very first time, players
will build their parks beyond the confines of the Muertes
Archipelago. Each location brings new terrain and fresh challenges
for players to contend with using deep, detailed management tools
and creative options. Across this range of beautiful new biomes,
including dense forests and scorched deserts, they'll contain,
conserve, and care for more than 75 prehistoric species, including
all-new, highly requested flying and marine reptiles and returning
community-favourite dinosaurs. These majestic prehistoric creatures
feel more alive than ever, displaying brand new behaviours as they
interact with each other, fight for dominance, and react
intelligently to the world around them.
Boasting four fantastic game modes, players can experience a
bold new era for the Jurassic World Evolution video game franchise.
Set immediately after the Earth-shattering events of Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom, Campaign mode lets players immerse
themselves in an original Jurassic World story as they lead efforts
to control, conserve and contain dinosaurs alongside an iconic cast
of characters from the films, including Dr. Ian Malcolm (voiced by
Jeff Goldblum) and Claire Dearing (voiced by Bryce Dallas
Howard).
For those looking to unleash their creativity, Sandbox mode
delivers everything players need to create their perfect Park,
while Chaos Theory mode offers a re-imagined take on pivotal
moments from the Jurassic World film franchise as players strive to
make their own mark and change the course of events. Finally, for
those that want to test their mastery of the game there is
Challenge mode.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 will be launching in late calendar
2021 on PC, PlayStation(R)5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation(R)4 and
Xbox One.
ELITE DANGEROUS: ODYSSEY
The launch of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey on PC on 19 May 2021
heralded the start of a new era for the definitive space
simulation. Odyssey allows players to touch down on newly
accessible planets with light atmospheres; to explore, engage in
combat and trade, take on missions, and work together or alone over
their surfaces with complete freedom from a first person,
feet-on-the-ground perspective.
This major new expansion suffered some initial connectivity
problems in the first few days of release, in part due to record
player numbers, but primarily due to a fault that took 36 hours to
track and rectify. Some players have also reported other issues,
such as performance in terms of frame rate. We have achieved some
success already with a series of client and server side updates,
and we will continue to work hard to address the wider issues and
turn sentiment around on the game.
Odyssey represents a huge investment in the future of Elite
Dangerous, with an ambition to match - the whole of the Milky Way
galaxy to the millimetre scale with billions of planets to explore.
We are confident that through continued updates and engagement with
our community, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will provide many hours of
enjoyment to millions of players over many years.
Later in calendar 2021 we will bring our multi-platform Elite
Dangerous community back together when Odyssey comes to PlayStation
and Xbox consoles.
TRADING
Trading in the final months of the financial year included the
ongoing performance of the existing portfolio and the initial
revenue contribution from the launch of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey on
PC on 19 May 2021. Building on the performance in the first half of
the financial year and the important December festive period, sales
of both base game units and paid downloadable content ("PDLC") in
the remainder of the financial year helped to deliver provisional
unaudited total FY21 revenue of approximately GBP91 million, which
is a company record, and was achieved without the launch of a major
new franchise.
CORONAVIRUS
Working exclusively at home continues to be the norm for the
majority of our talented team, who continue to manage admirably
through the challenges posed by coronavirus. The greatest
challenges which we have experienced from exclusive home working
tend to relate to the collaboration of staff on large projects,
particularly in their later stages, such as previously noted for
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey where we took the difficult decision to
delay and split the PC and console releases.
Looking ahead we are hoping to transition back to more
office-based working later in calendar 2021, subject to government
guidance and the safety of our staff. In the first instance, this
will be a planned phased return to using the studio on an ad-hoc
basis, followed by a transition to a hybrid office/home working
model which we plan to adopt for a trial period of approximately 6
months. We believe this will resolve the collaboration challenges
from exclusive home working, whilst also providing our staff with
the flexibility to enjoy both the efficiency benefits and the
personal benefits that home working can provide.
Taking into account the ongoing collaboration challenges from
exclusive home working and other coronavirus related disruption,
for prudent planning reasons the Board now anticipate that our
first annual F1 management game may release in early FY23 (after 1
June 2022) as opposed to late FY22 (before 31 May 2022). We remain
confident of delivering an exciting management simulation
experience to PC and console audiences during the 2022 F1
season.
OUTLOOK
Having just delivered record annual revenue of approximately
GBP91 million in FY21, we are well positioned to grow significantly
in FY22 through the ongoing performance of our existing game
portfolio and the first results of our scale-up strategy delivering
an exciting line up of new games, new platforms and new PDLC. The
line-up for FY22 includes:
-- Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will be coming to PlayStation and
Xbox consoles later in calendar 2021 following its release on PC in
May 2021
-- Jurassic World Evolution 2, a major sequel to the successful
2018 original, will release on PC, and PlayStation and Xbox
consoles later in calendar 2021
-- At least three new titles from Frontier Foundry, our games
label for publishing games developed by carefully selected partner
studios, including the strategic shooter Lemnis Gate, which comes
to multiple platforms this summer, and the recently announced
Warhammer: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, which is planned for release
in spring 2022
-- PDLC for a number of titles, including a roadmap of engaging
content for Planet Zoo that will build on the six packs already
available, and an ever expanding catalogue of items for Elite
Dangerous.
Based on the anticipated ongoing performance of our existing
portfolio together with an exciting schedule of releases for FY22,
the Board's projected revenue range for FY22 is GBP130 million to
GBP150 million, which prudently assumes our 2022 F1 management game
is released in early FY23.
Looking further ahead into FY23, the Board anticipates further
strong growth in annual revenue, with a projected revenue range of
GBP160 million to GBP180 million, based on:
-- Our existing game franchises - Elite Dangerous, Planet
Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution and Planet Zoo
-- Our new game franchises - our exclusive licences for F1
management games and a Warhammer: Age of Sigmar real-time strategy
title
-- A growing contribution from our games label for third-party publishing, Frontier Foundry
David Braben, Chief Executive, said:
"We are delighted to reveal Jurassic World Evolution 2 as our
next major internally developed game release. We are excited to
unveil to the player community of our largest commercial success to
date the significant gameplay enhancements and innovations that we
have been able to create to make this new experience even more
compelling that the original.
We are proud to have achieved record annual revenue in FY21 from
continued global engagement with our four existing major
self-published titles, without a new franchise release. It's
testament to the support of our well-established player communities
and our model of post-launch content, as well as our ability to
reach new players on existing and new platforms. A record numbers
of players have engaged with Frontier games in the last twelve
months.
Our passionate and dedicated staff have worked diligently
through the challenges posed by coronavirus and home working. I'd
like to say a massive thank you and well done to all at Frontier
for their hard work and resilience.
Our most recent major release, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, is a
huge step forward in the game, and the mixed initial reaction to
the PC launch on 19 May was obviously disappointing. Connectivity
issues were a problem, particularly for the first 36 hours
post-release, and caused poor experiences for the majority of
players, together with a number of other issues. Elite Dangerous is
a game of enormous scope - simulating the entire Milky Way. Odyssey
is an upgrade of exceptional ambition - allowing players to walk on
habitable planets, to engage in first person combat and
exploration, and to interact with the galaxy at a human scale
rather than a space craft scale. Realising that ambition (which I
have wanted to do since the 1980s!), has proven even more
challenging than we expected, but the fundamental systems are now
in place, and an increasing proportion of players appear to be
enjoying Odyssey as we hoped they would. We are working toward not
only resolving Odyssey's issues but also further realising our
vision for what the Elite Dangerous experience can become.
As we start our next financial year our target is to grow sales
by over 50% above the record revenue just achieved, through the
launch of Jurassic World Evolution 2 - a major sequel for our
biggest game to date, the performance of our existing portfolio,
including the console release of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, new paid
and free downloadable content across our titles, and at least three
new titles from our excellent external development partners
published by Frontier Foundry, including Warhammer 40,000: Chaos
Gate - Daemonhunters, announced just a few days ago."
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as amended by The
Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The person
responsible for making this announcement on behalf of the Company
is Alex Bevis.
Enquiries:
Frontier Developments +44 (0)1223 394 300
David Braben, CEO
Alex Bevis, CFO
Liberum - Nomad and Joint Broker +44 (0)20 3100 2000
Neil Patel / Cameron Duncan
Jefferies - Joint Broker +44 (0)20 7029 8000
Max Jones / William Brown
Tulchan Communications +44 (0)20 7353 4200
Matt Low / William Booth / David Allchurch
About Frontier Developments plc
Frontier is a leading independent developer and publisher of
videogames founded in 1994 by David Braben, co-author of the iconic
Elite game. Based in Cambridge, Frontier uses its proprietary COBRA
game development technology to create innovative genre-leading
games, primarily for personal computers and videogame consoles. As
well as self-publishing internally developed games, Frontier also
publishes games developed by carefully selected partner studios
under its Frontier Foundry games label.
Frontier's LEI number: 213800B9LGPWUAZ9GX18.
www.frontier.co.uk
About Jurassic World
From Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, Jurassic World
immerses audiences of all ages in a new era of wonder and thrills
where dinosaurs and humankind must learn to coexist. Jurassic World
is more than a film franchise. At every turn, this $5 billion film
series delivers a larger-than-life destination for exploration,
discovery, and epic adventure. Dinosaurs live again and they live
in Jurassic World. Jurassic World: Dominion debuts in theaters June
2022.
About Jurassic World Evolution 2
Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to
Frontier's highly successful Jurassic World Evolution, building
upon the ground-breaking and immersive 2018 management simulation.
It introduces a compelling, new narrative campaign, incredible new
features, and awe-inspiring new dinosaurs brought to life with
captivating authenticity. Together with expanded construction and
more customisation options, the result is an even bigger, better
and authentic Jurassic World game.
Universal Games and Digital Platforms
Universal's Games and Digital Platforms group leverages the vast
portfolio of IP and characters from NBCUniversal. The Games and
Digital Platforms group is a business unit of Universal Brand
Development, which is chartered with globally expanding the
company's intellectual properties, franchises, characters and
stories through innovative physical and digital products, content,
and consumer experiences. The company's extensive portfolio
includes properties created by Universal Pictures, Illumination,
DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
Universal Brand Development is part of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary
of Comcast Corporation. www.universalbranddevelopment.com.
(c) 2021 Universal City Studios LLC and Amblin Entertainment,
Inc. All rights reserved.
(c) 2021 Frontier Developments, plc. All rights reserved.
Frontier and the Frontier Developments logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Frontier Developments, plc.
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END
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