Frontier inks deal with Games Workshop, sees uptick in demand

Video games developer Frontier Developments announced an exclusive intellectual property licence with Games Workshop and said revenues would be at the upper end of estimates as it benefited from people staying at home during the coronavirus lockdown.

The company had seen increases in demand for its products as schools were closed in late March as part of the government's moves to combat the pandemic.

It now expected revenue to be towards the top of its previously-stated range of between £65m and £73m for the current financial year ending 31 May, with operating profit anticipated to fall between £11m and £13m.

Under the terms of the licence, Frontier had the exclusive rights to develop and publish a real-time strategy game within the world of ‘Warhammer Age of Sigmar’ on PC and console platforms, together with the rights for streaming services. It said the game was planned for release in its 2023 financial year.

The company’s next major releases would be Planet Coaster on PlayStation and Xbox, and a major new paid-for release for Elite Dangerous, together with the first two games from its third-party publishing initiative.

Frontier had originally planned for the Elite Dangerous major update to release in December 2020, but had delayed until the first quarter of 2021.

The company said it was in a “strong position”, and while the board was closely monitoring the impact of the pandemic, Frontier said it did not currently expect to use government employment support or to apply for grants.

It was continuing to recruit, adding that it already had a number of new joiners who had started by working from home.

The business had a “strong, debt-free” balance sheet, the directors added, with cash totalling about £40m, allowing it to continue to invest in its strategy of developing and nurturing high quality games.

At 1418 BST, shares in Frontier Developments were up 9.21% at 1,660p.