Despite the accumulation of negative market factors, the effects of which were visible in the Group’s results in the second quarter of 2022, the subsequent reporting periods brought a dynamic recovery (Q3) and stabilization (Q4) of Ten Square Games’ financial results. However, like the entire mobile games market, the Ten Square Games Group ended 2022 with lower results than in the record-breaking 2021. Bookings reached PLN 542 million and total revenues amounted to PLN 538.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to PLN 140.8 million. At the end of the year, the Group had cash in the amount of PLN 126.6 million at its disposal. This ensures the Group’s financial stability and the possibility of further development. The Group’s net results in 2022 were negatively affected by write-offs related mainly to closed projects.

The lower results of the Ten Square Games Group were mainly affected by external factors and the Company’s decision to increase marketing expenditures in Fishing Clash during the pandemic. Firstly, after the lifting of lockdowns, the involvement of players who gained access to all forms of entertainment naturally decreased, as a consequence of which the mobile gaming market recorded a decline. In 2022, the market was recovering and it has long-term growth prospects thanks to a generation of gamers for whom the phone is an integral and central part of life. Moreover, blocking the access of players from Russia and Belarus to games after Russia’s armed attack on Ukraine translated directly into the level of the Group’s revenues, and additionally also into the dynamics and competitiveness of the games, in particular in the flagship title Fishing Clash. The share of the Russian market in payments from games in 2021 amounted to approx. 5.3% – including approx. 6.5% for Fishing Clash and 2.5% for Hunting Clash. The post-pandemic market turmoil and the war in Ukraine were reflected in the deteriorating macroeconomic situation and the growing uncertainty of the market environment, which had a negative impact on consumer sentiment and their willingness to spend free funds. These factors also remain the greatest challenges in the Group’s operations in 2023.

– Last year’s results should not be compared with record numbers from the pandemic period, which were supported by unprecedented circumstances, including lockdowns. In order to fully assess how the Ten Square Games Group has changed, it is worth comparing it to the times before the outbreak of the pandemic, which significantly changed the dynamics of the market and influenced the pace of development of the Group. Compared to 2019, payments from the games of the Ten Square Games Group more than doubled, the adjusted EBITDA result was higher by over 60%, and we allocated the surplus of cash generated to investments in the Italian Rortos studio and the Krakow Gamesture studio. Thus, we have taken another step towards diversifying the portfolio of our titles. In addition, thanks to high cash flows from operating activities, we paid a dividend for both 2020 and 2021 in the amount of PLN 10 per share. – says Maciej Zuzalek, President of the Management Board of Ten Square Games SA.

During the pandemic, the Group’s main title – Fishing Clash – recorded record results. This was possible thanks to the largest investment in marketing in the Company’s history, which was supported by exceptionally low user acquisition costs in 2020. This let Ten Square Games to each basically the entire target group of the game and attract as many as 140 million new players. After the lifting of lockdowns, it turned out to be impossible to maintain a further increase in the number of users from such an inflated base, e.g. due to the limited scope of the target group, a natural decrease in user engagement and significantly lower marketing expenses. After the user base is at the post-pandemic level, the Company sees the room for further growth in the game and will pursue it.

The share of Hunting Clash – second largest title in the Group’s portfolio – in the hunting games segment was 89%, and bookings in this game accounted for nearly 23% of all Group’s bookings. This share growth was supported by an increase by 6% in the level of bookings in this title in 2022.

Last year, Rortos – an Italian studio acquired by Ten Square Games in July 2021 – also contributed to the level of Group’s bookings. Its two older titles – Airline Commander and Real Flight Simulator generated PLN 29.4 million. The latest production of the Italian studio – Wings of Heroes had its global premiere in October 2022. The game was well received by players, and its short-term parameters are the best in the history of Ten Square Games. This title has already become the third largest in terms of daily revenues in the Group. Ten Square Games plans to intensively develop the title over the next two years and increase its share in the promising segment of flight simulators, similarly to Fishing Clash and Hunting Clash in their respective market categories.

Last year, the Group worked intensively on new games – Undead Clash and Fishing Masters. In the first of them, it was decided to introduce a change in the gameplay, which has great potential to engage a wider audience, but requires further work. Development of the second title is proceeding according to the plan and its team is focused on preparing the game for launch. In 2022, it was also decided to review the product portfolio and resign from further development of two projects – Football Elite and Magical District. Changes in Undead Clash and termination of two projects resulted in the need to write off expenses incurred for development work, the cost of which was charged the Group’s net result in a total amount of PLN 23.6 million. The Group enters 2023 with a new approach to the development process in the future. In the opinion of the Company’s Management Board, it will allow to decide more effectively than before on the selection of titles for further development.

– The effects of development work in Undead Clash and Fishing Masters will define further development steps of the Group and will serve, among others, to update plans for its further development. In 2023, the priority for the Company is to maintain leading position and try to grow revenues in the two main titles, as well as the dynamic development of Wings of Heroes with the support of the Ten Square Games team and infrastructure. We also want to make more effective use of competences and knowledge in the Group after joining its structures by Rortos joined and our increased involvement in Gamesture. Therefore, the integration of the acquired assets and their full inclusion in the Ten Square Games Group’s ecosystem remain a key topic in 2023. – says Maciej Zuzalek, President of the Management Board of Ten Square Games SA.

External factors that may affect the Group’s results include, above all, the current and growing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, as well as high inflation. In the long term, they may shape the behavior of players, and thus affect the Group’s ability to obtain payments in games. The company enters this uncertain time with a safe cash balance and a diversified product portfolio. Consistent execution of strategic objectives brings Ten Square Games closer and closer to achieving the goal of creating a free-to-play mobile gaming platform, offering a diversified and growing portfolio of titles.

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The Ten Square Games Group is a producer of mobile games in the free-to-play model. It consists of nearly 500 people working in studios in Wrocław, Warsaw and Bucharest. Ten Square Games SA has acquired the Rortos studio in Verona, as well as a minority stake in the Krakow Gamesture studio. The Group’s portfolio includes, among others: Fishing Clash, one of the world’s most popular 3D fishing simulators, Hunting Clash, a realistic hunting simulator, as well as Airline Commander, one of the most recognizable flight simulators, and Wings of Heroes, which premiered globally in October 2022.