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Perfect World explains third quarter financial performance

Jef Reahard — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous

It looks like Cryptic Studios is in stable financial hands according to a news blurb at Gamasutra. Parent company Perfect World Entertainment saw a rise in third quarter revenue compared to the same period last year.

However, GamesIndustry.biz reports that PWE's net profits declined during the same period, primarily due to the Cryptic acquisition and the decision to temper in-game monetization activities in certain titles.

"While focusing on further enhancing the content of our portfolio is necessary for our healthy long-term growth, this decision did slow our revenues for the third quarter on a sequential basis. But our third quarter results still represent solid year-over-year revenue growth of 22.4 percent," explained chairman and CEO Michael Chi.

Perfect World explains third quarter financial performance originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft is doing quite well in China, thank you very much

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Economy, MMO industry

Earlier this month we heard the news that World of Warcraft's subscriber base took yet another substantial hit, although Blizzard was quick to say that most of these losses were coming from eastern countries like China. It's odd then that we've just received word that World of Warcraft is on the rise in China following an extremely profitable third quarter.

NetEase, which operates World of Warcraft in the region, announced that its Q3 earnings were actually up over the same time last year. Both revenues and profits for WoW in China are on the upswing, marking a 39.8% increase year-over-year. NetEase said that it pulled in $308.3 million in revenues, out of which $128.2 million is pure profit.

Subscriber hit or no, WoW continues to be a major force in the Asian market, and with numbers like these it's hard to imagine it going away any time soon.

World of Warcraft is doing quite well in China, thank you very much originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ChangYou reports impressive profit and revenue gains

Jef Reahard — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Browser

It's been a great year for ChangYou, and the Chinese developer responsible for Tian Long Ba Bu and Duke of Mount Deer recently reported its fifth consecutive double digit growth quarter.

Tian Long Ba Bu has seen two successful expansion packs thus far in 2011, with a third scheduled for September. According to Gamasutra, Duke of Mount Deer recently increased its server headcount to 110 (up from 64), and the success of both titles powered ChangYou's $54.2 million profit as well as a 35.1 percent revenue jump over the previous year.

ChangYou also bought into a browser-game specialist called 7Road last spring with the intention of expanding its interests beyond traditional MMORPGs. All told, Gamasutra says that ChangYou contributed an impressive $327 million in revenue to a $5 billion Chinese game market.

ChangYou reports impressive profit and revenue gains originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom publishes sharp revenue drop for Q3

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, MMO industry, News items

Funcom has released its financial results for Q3, and it's not pretty. Revenue was down 68.5% to 5.7 million USD, and expected to drop even more in Q4. This time last year they were reporting a profit of $3.3 million, a strong contrast to the current $9.6 million loss. They see a few reasons for this drop, including some stiff competition: "The Company ran a successful re-evaluation campaign during July, increasing the number of subscribers to the game. However, the launch of two major competing MMO-games during Q3 led to a subsequent reduction in subscriber levels."

Funcom remains optimistic, though, thanks to numerous upcoming projects. The Secret World is reported to be "progressing well", Age of Conan is planning a launch in Korea, the "Rise of the Godslayer" expansion for AoC is on its way, and Funcom recently received a grant to create an extreme sports MMO.

The full report can be viewed here.

Funcom publishes sharp revenue drop for Q3 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom's Q1 2009 report shows solid revenue

William Dobson — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, The Secret World, Casual

Funcom has released a report detailing their financials for the first quarter of 2009. They brought in over US$7 million in revenue for the period, and although this figure is slightly less than the previous quarter (but without the disastrous US$23 million depreciation loss), they are pleased with the stability of their earnings during the economic turbulence of recent times. The report also mentions some positive trends in their flagship game Age of Conan:

Longer average subscription periods, demonstrating customer loyalty
The number of new customers per month is much higher than Q4 '08 (the introduction of free trials helped here)
A solid and stable customer base for the quarter
Higher levels of activity in game than in previous periods

Not to be left out, The Secret World made it into the report as well, mostly just to say that the recent reveal was well-received, and the project is on track. Anarchy Online only really had a one-line entry in the report, and it was to say that revenues from the game were slowly declining. The casual and free-to-play games that Funcom referred to in their Q4 '08 report are also keeping to their development schedules -- the screenshot above is from a java-based MMO that is currently in the focus-testing and gameplay tweaking stages. For now though, with TSW and the other casual games still on the horizon, the overall success of Q2 '09 will once again hinge on the performance of AoC.

Funcom's Q1 2009 report shows solid revenue originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom CFO resigns in wake of $23.3M loss

James Egan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items

These are bad times all around in the massively multiplayer online game industry in terms of the economy. The troubles of some companies are still coming to light, as is the case with Funcom. James Lee from GamesIndustry.biz writes that Funcom has reported its Q4 2008 financial results with "an operating loss of USD 23.3 million, caused by a depreciation of USD 22.8 million due to the lagging performance of Age of Conan."

In addition, Funcom CFO Olav Sandes has given notice of his resignation. Sandes is not the first high level employee to quit in recent months, but all is not doom and gloom. Funcom's Q4 2008 subscription revenues from Age of Conan have shot up to USD 8.7 million, up from USD 1.2 million year-on-year, Lee reports. Funcom expects a Q1 2009 revenue of between USD 6 million and 8 million, largely comprised of subscription fees for Age of Conan. James Lee's GamesIndustry.biz article has further details on Funcom's financial situation.

Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!

Funcom CFO resigns in wake of $23.3M loss originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tabula Rasa goes AWOL from Q1 NCSoft financial reports

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, Tabula Rasa, MMOFPS

When the financial reports for the Q1 performance of NCSoft hit the Massively offices, fingers were quickly pressed to pages with one intent -- finding out what was going on with Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa. Already this year, we've heard dour reports on the status of the game, which were then rebuked by NCSoft, but those reports still planted seeds of doubt. Our hope was that the financial numbers could shed some light on what was happening with the game and perhaps reveal the game's direction. Was the game going uphill, or was it careening toward Auto Assault's junkyard?

But finding financial information about Tabula Rasa was like trying to track down Deep Throat. In the whole of the Q1 financial reports, TR appears twice. Even when most of NCSoft's major properties are listed and statistics are given, TR does not get mentioned.

But where Tabula Rasa does briefly appear, things do not look good at all.

Continue reading Tabula Rasa goes AWOL from Q1 NCSoft financial reports

Tabula Rasa goes AWOL from Q1 NCSoft financial reports originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivendi leaks a possible Wrath of the Lich King release date

Akela Talamasca — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, New titles, News items

In a strange case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing, Vivendi Games, in its latest financial press release, has stated that "Blizzard Entertainment's second expansion, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008." While that's exciting, Blizzard themselves have not made any official announcement about the expansion's release date.

Does Vivendi think that no one's reading these things besides their investors and business partners? Can this be true? If not, it's a serious error that shouldn't be on a financial press release. We're waiting for Blizzard's response to see if there's going to be any kind of spin control on this. In the meantime, revel in the impending release!

[Via BigDownload]

Vivendi leaks a possible Wrath of the Lich King release date originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 May 2008 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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