Swedish video game and media holdings company Embracer Group has published its Q3 financial report spanning October to December 2022, with comparisons to the year prior including a 128 percent increase in net sales.
Notably, while mobile, PC and console games all saw an increase in sales, mobile’s climb was the smallest of the bunch, rising by only two percent to SEK 1,573 million in the period compared to SEK 1,545 million in Q3 2021.
PC and console saw a much more significant increase of 64 percent to SEK 3,575 million in Q3 2022, versus SEK 2,187 million one year earlier.
The report cited Goat Simulator 3 as the main revenue driver for the quarter, meanwhile mobile titles like Single City have been "performing in line with management expectations".
Adapting to changes
Overall, Embracer Group’s net sales grew by 128 percent year-on-year to SEK 11.6 billion (approximately $1.1 billion) in the quarter, however its organic growth saw a decline of 3 percent. Net investments in intangible assets also came to SEK –1,413 million.
"The muted organic growth development is mainly explained by the less new significant game releases," said Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors.
Basic earnings per share, meanwhile, made a positive turn in 2022, flipping from SEK -1.38 to SEK 1.39 each.
Considering reasons for the marginal growth in mobile, Wingefors commented: "On a year-over-year basis, the comparisons were tough, and the segment saw some headwind from lower ad prices, impacted by Apple’s changes related to IDFA, lower player engagement post-covid and macroeconomic factors."
Last summer, Adtech company Bango revealed that 31 per cent of games developers believed their businesses would go under due to new ad regulations and privacy changes. Meanwhile, Newzoo cited a loss of disposable income due to the recession as one reason for mobile’s diminished earnings in 2022.
Embracer Group’s full report delves deeper into cash flow, the impacts of having more employees, and more.
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