Developer and publisher Huuuge Games generated record adjusted net profits and adjusted EBITDA in 2023, with a year-on-year rise of 35.1% and 31.5% respectively.
As per the company’s latest financial report, adjusted net profits reached $87.3 million for the year while adjusted EBITDA was $108.2 million.
Profit over revenue
Huuuge’s rising metrics came despite a decrease in daily players of its games, with success instead being attributed to organisational changes, a focus on margins, and staff layoffs. The year’s record profits had already outperformed 2022’s fiscal results before 2023’s fourth quarter began.
The impact of these structural changes becomes even more noteworthy when comparing revenues, a metric which fell by 11% from 2022 due largely to the ceased development on Traffic Puzzle. Huuuge had hit $319 million in revenue in 2022 but only reached $283.4 million in 2023, confirming its strong increase in profits instead came from cost-cutting.
After all, a $0.40 rise in spending per daily active user, and the rise in conversion from player to payer up from 6.3% to 8%, still couldn’t offset the overall fall in daily active users from 610,500 to 429,700. DPU also fell from 22,300 to 16,700.
"In 2023, we prioritised profitability over revenue growth and achieved a record level of adjusted EBITDA, at USD 108.2 million, while operating cash flows totalled over USD 82.4 million," Huuuge CEO Wojciech Wronowski explained.
Huuuge’s flagships Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino still landed among the top earners in the social casino gaming segment, as ARPDAU and ARPPU rose by 8% and 13% respectively and the number of daily active users rose too, even after decreasing their marketing spending.
On the rise
Direct-to-consumer grew as a channel for revenue generation in 2023, accounting for $16.6 million of Huuuge’s revenue across the year and up to approximately 8% in the fourth quarter. This revenue across 2023 was triple that generated from direct-to-consumer in 2022.
"Last year, we carried out a share buyback program worth $150 million, thereby passing on a portion of the value we generated to our shareholders. We have also decided to conduct another buyback program, worth $70 million, which will begin on March 19, 2024," Wronowski added.
Going forward, the company plans to increase spending on marketing again and integrate more social features into its games. As marketing campaigns go, few can compete with the sheer unprecedented spending on Scopely's Monopoly GO...
