Mobile PUBG games are killing it, Small Giant raises $41 million, and the irony of Supercell's financials
Supercell’s latest financials have been hot news over the last week as the company showed its “first ever” decline in annual sales and profits.
But that wouldn’t tell the whole story of a company like Supercell. Our contributing editor Jon Jordan took a look at some remarkable figures you may not know about the Clash of Clans developer - such as the fact that the studio generated around $9 million per employee.
Supercell isn’t the only Finnish company hitting the headlines though. Our other big story was little-known developer Small Giant Games raising some $41 million to expand its portfolio and invest in its breakout title Empires & Puzzles.
Battlegrounds, live quizzes and proft warnings
Elsewhere, Tencent has finally released the mobile versions of hit PC title Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. They may be late to the party, but that hasn’t stopped these games racking up millions of downloads.
Our other most popular articles from the last week were an interview with the team behind the live quiz game outspending HQ Trivia, and Rovio issued a profit warning as it plots a big investment in Hatch and user acquisition costs bite.
#5: Rovio issues profit warning as company plots big Hatch investment and UA costs rise
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Rovio issues profit warning as company plots big Hatch investment and UA costs rise »Angry Birds developer Rovio has warned investors to brace for lower than expected profits as it expands its business and user acquisition costs bite.
The Finnish company, which went public in September 2017, stated that group revenues are expected to be €260m to €300m in 2018. Profits before interest and tax is anticipated at nine to 11 per cent.
It should be noted however that for the three months ending December 31st 2017, revenues were up 55 per cent to €73.9 million year-on-year, while earnings before income tax were up 85.8 per cent to €10.4 million.
The profit warning however comes just months after Rovio released an interim report noting that profits had fallen 70 per cent largely due to increased UA.
#4: The live quiz game outspending HQ Trivia
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The live quiz game outspending HQ Trivia »HQ Trivia is an interesting proposition - a live trivia game with real hosts handing out real cash prizes to winners on a daily basis, and one that's doing rather well for itself.
But it's already attracting competition from other developers, including QuizBiz which is setting itself apart by being hosted on the Live.me platform and offering even bigger prizes.
"I think that's what setting us apart right now: how much we're giving way with each show," admitted QuizBiz producer Michael Langford.
As for its future, he says that "we're envisioning multiple shows with multiple formats at all different times throughout the day. Like a TV network, that's exactly how we envision it. We want to have content on all the time, that users can tune into."
#3: Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds mobile games are killing it on the Chinese App Store
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Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds mobile games are killing it on the Chinese App Store »In news that will surprise basically nobody, one of 2017's most popular PC games is proving to also be an enormous hit on mobile.
Yes, Tencent's duo of PUBG mobile games have launched in China, and are already, if you will, "killing it", having topped the worldwide download charts on February 9th and 10th.
The games took first and second spots, beating Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition, Knife Hit and Tik Tok to the top.
But they've still got a long way to go, having been beaten to the punch by NetEase and its raft of PUBG-esque games, which have already accrued tens of millions of downloads between Knives Out and Rules of Survival.
#2: Finnish developer Small Giant Games raises $41 million
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Finnish developer Small Giant Games raises $41 million »Not previously heard of Small Giant Games, one of Finland’s hottest start-ups just a few years back?
You will do now, after the developer raised $41 million in investment to grow its current projects and expand the team.
The large sum is in part thanks to the success of match-three RPG EMpires & Puzzles, which has become somewhat of a breakthrough hit for the company.
It generated $33 million in revenue in 2017 and racked up more than 10 million players. So expect to see this title grow even bigger with the studio’s new $41 million warchest.
#1: The irony of Supercell’s 2017 financials
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The irony of Supercell’s 2017 financials »Supercell recently reported its supposed “first ever” decline in annual sales and profits.
But to simply look and that statement and conclude the good times are over wouldn’t be accurate in the slightest.
Our contributing editor Jon Jordan took a look at the numbers and the stated reasons for the company’s decline in revenues, and came out with some startling numbers.
Not least that the Clash of Clans developer generated around $9 million per employee in 2017. By comparison - though not a clean one by any means - Apple made less than $2 million.