ED units sold - FDEV trading update

No I'm not saying this at all. I'm saying that compared to computer games from 20 years ago, extra avenues of revenue are increasingly more central to the game's design. I'm pretty sure that's what the post you quoted says.
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Let's use an example. Runescape. Spectacular game. Huge hit. Free area, subscription access unlock. Let's look at a modern example. Archeage. Free to play, full of micro-transactions. Successful game, though I feel that money being so central to its design cripples its fun factor. Big hit nevertheless.

Extra revenue is required because everyone wants neverending updates, game cheap as possible and don't want to pay subs.

Ergo, we get MTs.

We don't hate MTs (as gaming community). No, we *embrace* them. Because it allows us to have cake and eat it too (not really, but that feeling is there for a moment....till you trash game you wanted and move to next one hit wonder).
 
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so ED has some 640k+ sold units.

official report via http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12402020.html

is that good or bad news then?

i think it sounds like that plan is coming together nicely. looking forward to further fruition.
Knee jerk reaction is that it is not really news at all. Sure, it is official, and all that, but we know the unit sold count fairly accurately from the tracker, and some money numbers have been out there for a while, so the 22M revenue was not a surprise. We also knew they were sitting on a pile of cash (though not exactly how big that pile was) - well those of us that were awake knew - there are doom and gloom merchants on lots of threads declaring that FD are close to going bust and that FD is dead. So, meh, really. I note the price slipped a smidgeon, though the shares are not widely traded (less than 3000 shares today) so you really cannot read very much into that.
 
I think the next 12 months is a key year. Those figures suggest their cost base is 20 million. So they will need sales to cover that. Given XBox is a lower revenue and we have seen Steam sales as well. Assuming no expansion and ED is the only revenue stream, at 30 pounds a unit they will need around 700K units to ship to make similar numbers. In my view that is unlikely so either they will discount further and/or release a payable expansion.
 
I don't play the stock market but Frontier looks like a good bet imo ;)
Not particularly, actually. News like this is already 'in' the stock price: investors knew enough already that the figures would have had to be a real surprise (and these were not) for the market to notice. Now, if you got in early enough, there was money to be made, but not really now unless FD pull a rabbit out of a hat. Which they may do, of course. CQC might take off, as you say (my analogy is somewhat different to yours, not a new floor on the building, or putting furniture in place, but building a shed at the bottom of the garden). Planet Coaster is quite likely to be a bit of a cash cow: much less niche than E: D. And I expect that the PS4 version will be ready as soon as the XBox exclusive deal ends: so quite likely for Christmas. But how much of all that is already discounted in the price?

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I think the next 12 months is a key year. Those figures suggest their cost base is 20 million. So they will need sales to cover that. Given XBox is a lower revenue and we have seen Steam sales as well. Assuming no expansion and ED is the only revenue stream, at 30 pounds a unit they will need around 700K units to ship to make similar numbers. In my view that is unlikely so either they will discount further and/or release a payable expansion.

I would expect an expansion AND a PS4 version in the next financial year (and, of course, the XBox sales are in the next financial year, and we know they got something like 60 or 70K new players in the first couple of days). Planet Coaster will be too late for that, however. I don't know if their accountants will let them book the revenue from the Betas they are selling, and the other shiny stuff like your avatar in game. We do know that they were not able to account for the kickstarter money until they released the game.
 
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10 million cash in bank, no debt (which is a bigger thing than it appears), 640K pre main XBOX sales. Looking pretty good I would say given that the report only deals with the one single game.

10mill... profit? That includes sales on both platforms?
 
10mill... profit? That includes sales on both platforms?

No, they simply have money in a bank - because they like it that way. And oohhh debt free.

For actual profit of selling ED copies we will have to wait September for detailed shareholder report.

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I would expect an expansion AND a PS4 version in the next financial year (and, of course, the XBox sales are in the next financial year, and we know they got something like 60 or 70K new players in the first couple of days). Planet Coaster will be too late for that, however. I don't know if their accountants will let them book the revenue from the Betas they are selling, and the other shiny stuff like your avatar in game. We do know that they were not able to account for the kickstarter money until they released the game.

I expect next (2015) financial year to be with loss - as Planet Coaster and PS4 version will trickle down in already financial year of 2016. Yes, they will sell XBO and PC copies, but they will have to spend a lot on development too.
 
I also expect to see a nice bump in sales at the end of the year (beginning of next) due to the VR helmets coming to market. Elite is probably going to be a "must buy" for many. It wouldn't surprise me if Elite has some nice deal with Valve either since ED appear on Steam pretty close to when they announced their helmet. (You need to be a Valve partner to get access to their development kit...)
In frontier case having the only commercial game supporting VR I suspect valve is begging frontier to take those development kits on their hands.

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No, they simply have money in a bank - because they like it that way. And oohhh debt free.

For actual profit of selling ED copies we will have to wait September for detailed shareholder report.

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I expect next (2015) financial year to be with loss - as Planet Coaster and PS4 version will trickle down in already financial year of 2016. Yes, they will sell XBO and PC copies, but they will have to spend a lot on development too.

It appears to be me they have already spent a substantial amount on development. Their cash reserves have increased by a smaller amount than I expect them to, so what ever Frontier doing with Elite Dangerous income they aren't hoarding the cash. That base on zero knowledge of accountancy.
 
It appears to be me they have already spent a substantial amount on development. Their cash reserves have increased by a smaller amount than I expect them to, so what ever Frontier doing with Elite Dangerous income they aren't hoarding the cash. That base on zero knowledge of accountancy.

Of course they spent lot of money on development. They have two games in works plus big expansion. However, they still have 10.5M in bank account. Yes, they are hoarding a bit of cash as safety belt.
 
Frontier Trading update.. >640K copies sold

http://www.iii.co.uk/research/LSE:FDEV/news/item/1539221/full-year-trading-update?context=LSE:FDEV

>640K copies sold.

"As a result, Frontier more than doubled headline revenue for the full year to over £22m and expects to report an operating profit of over £1.25m (unaudited). Net cash balances increased to £10.5m at 31 May 2015."

"The Board continues to be pleased with the progress of Elite: Dangerous to date. Total paid unit sales are currently in excess of 640,000.

Elite: Dangerous was made available on the Steam digital distribution service on 2 April 2015 in addition to Frontier's own online store, and reached number 1 in the Steam sales charts shortly after release, and again during the recent Steam Summer Sale."

"The Group's balance sheet remains strong and, at 31 May 2015, the Group had net cash of approximately £10.5 million after having repaid its interest free loan to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency early, once again making the Group debt free and placing it in a strong financial position to support its continuing investment plans going forward. As a result, the Group has reviewed its cash resource requirements for the next 12 months and decided to lower its revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank plc from £3m to £1m. This facility expires in May 2016.

Frontier Developments expects to report its results in early September 2015.

David Braben, Chief Executive of Frontier Developments, said:

"We successfully achieved a major milestone by releasing Elite: Dangerous on 16 December 2014. Elite: Dangerous is being continually improved by regular game updates which creates publicity and stimulates demand. We are also increasing the addressable market by adding platforms and new distribution channels.

We are progressing well with our plans, and the reception of both the first video of our second franchise Planet Coaster and the Xbox One Elite: Dangerous game from the recent E3 trade show has been excellent. The outlook for the company is very strong."
 
Well done everyone at Frontier!

Thanks for bringing us and continuing to bring us a great game! :)
 
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