Frontier Developments PLC (LON:FDEV) have told the market they have won the licence for a new Formula One game.
The video game development firm said that its future confidence has been reinstated as it signed a multi year gaming licence along with two third party publishing deals.
Following the signing of this deal – the firm also remained confident on their future outlook as they commented:
“As a result of the significant incremental benefit of the F1 Licence and the progress of Frontier Publishing, the Board’s confidence in the outlook for FY22 and beyond has been further strengthened. FY22 will now benefit from two major licenced IP multi-platform releases planned for that year, the anticipated ongoing performance of the existing titles supported by additional content, and a strong pipeline of releases from Frontier Publishing partnerships.”
Notably, Frontier said that the licence gives exclusive rights with Formula One Management to develop games for the FIA Formula One World Championship.
The games will produced on both PC and consoles, giving Frontier streaming rights from 2020 till 2025 – as long as certain financial criteria are met.
David Braben, Frontier’s Chief Executive, said:
“We are delighted to announce this multi-year licence deal with F1. F1 is one of the most popular global sporting franchises in the world, and we believe the combination of the F1 brand together with our extensive experience in management games will deliver fantastic game experiences to a wide and varied audience around the world.
We have achieved great success with our own IP and are proven development and publishing partners for the highest profile third party IP. Both original and licensed IP will continue to be important as we grow and nurture our portfolio.”
Frank Arthofer, Director of Digital and Licensing at Formula 1, said:
“Games are an important part of the F1 media ecosystem. This new manager franchise will allow fans to experience the challenging management aspects of the sport through immersive simulation games, and make that experience as accessible as possible for a broad audience. We have huge respect for Frontier and their achievements in the management simulation category, and are thrilled to be working with them for the 2022 season and beyond.”
Frontier Developments grow from strength to strength
In September, the firm gave shareholders a confident update on its’ trading.
The Company’s revenue jumped 162% on a year-on-year comparison, from £34.2 million to £89.7 million.
This drove operating profit growth of 593%, up from £2.8 million to £19.4 million, and EBITDA growth of 209%, up from £9.4 million to £29.0 million.
Frontier Developments added that their basic EPS rose 373%, from 9.6p to 45.4p.
The Company attributed much of its progress to its biggest release to-date.
Jurassic World Evolution was released in June 2018 to compliment the release of the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom film. The game sold a million copies in the first five weeks, and two million within seven months. Planet Coaster, Elite Dangerous and Planet Zoo – released in November 2016, December 2014 and November 2019 respectively – all progress as the Company’s major releases.
Shares in Frontier Developments trade at 1,216p. 11/3/20 12:53BST.
