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Focus Home Interactive has announced a record year for the group for its 2018/19 fiscal year, reporting “solid business and profit levels” and a revenue of €126m, which exceeds its original guidance by more than 20 per cent.
“The year got off to an excellent start with the release of Dontnod studio’s Vampyr, which met with worldwide commercial and critical success, and sold more than one million copies,” the financial report said. “These excellent sales figures put the game at the top of the best physical and digital sales in major territories in North America and Europe. The Group recently announced the renewal of its partnership with Dontnod for a project that promises to be the most ambitious to date for both players.”
The company attributes its record year to several key titles, including Vampyr, Insurgency: Sandstorm, Farming Simulator 19, and its MudRunner (American Wilds) franchise. Back-catalogue accounts for 25 per cent of total sales over the fiscal year, with 90 per cent of sales generated internationally. Digital sales represented 66 per cent of its total sales.
The gross margin came out to €36.6m – 29 per cent of revenues – compared to €27.2m at March 31, 2018. “This increase in business did not come at the expense of profitability,” the report added, “as the Group’s operating margin held steady from the previous year at 11%, thereby illustrating its excellent control of operating expenses. Operating income was €14.1m, up 47.6%.”
A strong start to the present fiscal year with the launch of Saber’s World War Z – which exceeded 2 million copies sold a few weeks after its release – and the critically acclaimed A Plague Tale: Innocence means the group anticipates an increase in its three-year projection, with sales expected to jump from €150m to €200m by March 2022. The Group’s annual What’s Next event announced 12 new partnerships signed by Focus for titles that will be developed and released over the next three years.
Focus Home Interactive recently announced it has partnered with Sumo Digital for a “multiplayer experience without compromise”. Describing the unannounced game as “as dark as it is violent”, the first fruit of this collaboration” will be developed by Sumo Newcastle, the team behind EVE: Valkyrie.
“We are very pleased to partner with Sumo Digital, a world-renowned development studio. We were immediately seduced by the project of the extremely talented team in Newcastle, offering gorgeous artistic direction in a dark universe and uncompromising gameplay that always entertains,” said John Bert, COO of Focus Home Interactive. “Along with its multiplayer and community components, we trust the title will attract a very large number of players.”
