New high score – games developer posts record profit
Video games developer, Team17, states it released more titles in 2020 than any previous year, helping to deliver revenue growth of 34%.
The business, which has issued its unaudited final results for the year ended 31 December 2020 and is currently valued at close to a billion pounds, also highlighted a record £26.2m pre-tax profit – up over a third year-on-year.
Revenues rose to £83m, compared to £61.8m in 2019, with adjusted EBITDA up 36% from £22.1m to £30.1m over the same period.
The company’s growth also saw overall headcount grow by a quarter to 250 members of staff at year end (2019: 200), along with a total of 12 titles launched in the year providing new revenue lines.
These included a record 10 new games released, supported by an increasing depth of back catalogue titles.
The company, which has operations in Wakefield, Nottingham and Manchester, says it managed a “seamless transition” to remote working in early March 2020 ahead of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Looking ahead the company which is famous for a number of titles including the Worms series, adds it has a solid and diverse pipeline of launches for 2021 and beyond and is well positioned to continue to deliver on our growth plans.
Team17’s outlook report states: “The year has started well and the expansion of both major new consoles and distribution platforms underpins management’s optimism about the future of gaming given its unique mixture of technology and entertainment.
“The board continues to be mindful of any potential headwinds associated with a prolonged pandemic, including uncertain macro-economic and consumer environments alongside manufacturing and supply chain challenges.
“However, the company remains confident that its ever-growing and diverse portfolio and high-quality development and commercial teams will continue to underpin performance.”
Debbie Bestwick
Debbie Bestwick, chief executive officer, said: “2020 was a significant year for the gaming industry as a whole, as we saw the launch of both Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles.
“It is fantastic to see our titles being launched on both these platforms and that another generation of gamers will get to explore Team17’s gaming universes.
“Incredibly, our Worms franchise is now 25 years old and in December we launched the franchise’s newest title, Worms Rumble, on PlayStation 5.
“2021 will be a very exciting and busy year for Team17, with more games signed to our label than any time in our history and new IP launches to look forward to.”
Team 17’s share price is currently 740p per share, meaning its market value is just below £1bn. With Team 17 one of the stalwarts of the UK video game industry, it is clearly benefiting the growth which according to the trade association TIGA was the fastest ever in 2019/20 and saw the sector contributing £2.2bn to the UK’s GDP.
