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CyberAgent’s 2022 financials reveal 33.8 percent operating loss despite surge in advertising revenue

CyberAgent game sales are down, but that advertising growth holds steady as digital media investment is on the horizon.

CyberAgent’s 2022 financials reveal 33.8 percent operating loss despite surge in advertising revenue

CyberAgent, the digital advertising agency and owner of mobile game developer Cygames, has released their financial results for the fiscal year of 2022. CyberAgent’s revenue appears to have been impacted by global market conditions in their games arm, however, digital advertising growth remains steadfast. Their reporting to investors also indicates an intent to diversify revenue streams, and discussion of their fiscal forecasts.

Overall, although CyberAgent has seen fiscal troubles in their game business, their advertising revenue continues to grow. According to their reports, operating profits overall for CyberAgent fell by 33.8% for the 2022 fiscal year compared to 2021. The former produced 104.3 billion yen, compared to 69.1 billion yen. CyberAgent attributed this to, “The slowdown of the game title released last year [that] has negatively impacted profits.” They do not specify which title, although it may be intended as plural since Cygames released multiple titles during 2021 such as Uma Musume Pretty Derby.

CyberAgent cyber-finance

CyberAgent also saw overall operating costs rise, which can partially address the lower overall profits. SG&A (Sales, General & Administrative expenses) were up from 127.6 billion yen to 150.0 billion yen.

They reported upticks of profits from games in correlation with seasonal events, and provided a variable forecast based upon investment into FIFA World Cup content as well as the ongoing investment into their digital streaming service, ABEMA.

Their internet advertising business saw 17.3% growth from 321.3 billion yen to 376.8 billion yen. Which has likely gone some way to mitigating the increase of costs. According to their medium to long-term strategy their aim is to diversify their business. This includes investing into “long-term” games which would likely mean more live-service and gacha titles that are mainly mobile-focused.

Another major aim is for them to increase investment in ABEMA, which is owned by one of their subsidiaries. Increasing monetization and investing into the service appears to be a major aim, and a sensible option to diversify revenue streams and capitalise on all areas of digital media.

Cyberagent was also entry #19 on our Top 50 Game Makers of 2022 list. The company remains prominent whatever dent in revenue they’ve been facing due to a strong catalogue of games and business ventures.


Staff Writer

Iwan is a Cardiff-based freelance writer, who joined the Pocket Gamer Biz site fresh-faced from University before moving to the Pocketgamer.com editorial team in November of 2023.