In the three months ended March 31st 2023, the game developer and publisher 11 bit studios recorded nearly PLN 14.8m in revenue. Its EBITDA for the period came in at PLN 3.0m, while net profit exceeded PLN 2.46m.
Albeit slightly weaker year on year, these figures are markedly better than the Company had internally budgeted for the first three months of this year. It might be also useful to mention a high-base effect. “In the first three months of 2022, our performance was significantly boosted by excellent sales of This War of Mine in late February and early March when, in response to Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine, we decided to donate the entire weekly proceeds from the game’s sales to the Ukrainian Red Cross,” comments Przemysław Marszał, CEO of 11 bit studios. At the same time, he points out that 11 bit studios’ results for the three months ended March 31st 2023 included the first revenue from sales of the board game version of Frostpunk (a seven-digit amount). The Company’s profit for the period was also noticeably affected by revaluation of its shareholding in Starward Industries, the Kraków-based game developer behind The Invincible, in which 11 bit studios holds an almost 6% equity interest. “This is one of the titles included in our publishing portfolio,” says Przemysław Marszał.
The representative of 11 bit studios stresses that its solid financial performance and cash cushion enable an undivided focus on the development of both proprietary and third party (publishing division) games, slated for release in the coming quarters or years. “We have been consistently raising expenditure on game development work, to nearly PLN 12.14m in the first quarter of 2023, up 28.2% from the year before. We expect that spending on game development, as well as on the promotion of titles in the works as their release dates are approaching, will be on an upward trend going forward,” states the Company’s CEO.
He maintains that in 2023 11 bit studios S.A. plans to publish two games: The Invincible and The Thaumaturge, developed by its associate Fool’s Theory. “The promotional campaigns we are running have bumped up both titles on the Steam wishlist chart, leading us to expect that their releases will provide a major boost to this year’s financial results posted by 11 bit studios, ”says the Company’s CEO. They will, of course, be supported by revenue from sales of the existing games portfolio, led by Frostpunk and This War of Mine, whose monetisation, as evidenced by the first-quarter results, will continue to generate an important cash stream for a long time to come,“ he adds.
Przemysław Marszał admits that 11 bit studios’ longer-term performance prospects spanning several years will be primarily driven by the premieres of its proprietary titles, in the pipeline for a couple of years now, i.e. Frostpunk 2, The Alters and the game code named as Project 8. “We look forward to sharing with our investors details of the upcoming market releases, which we believe will all take place by the end of 2025,” he concludes.
