One of the last companies to reveal their financial results for the previous financial year is Digital Bros., the parent company of 505 Games. In the report, they revealed they’re planning on releasing 13 games during this financial year. While details on the majority of these were scarce, they were a little more forthcoming about games that will be released further into the future, and one of these is a sequel to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Of the 13 new games to be released during fiscal year 2022, only two of them were named. One of these is the PC and mobile game Puzzle Quest 3, while the second is a free-to-play reboot of Hawken that’s aiming for a multiplatform release. The latter will have a new game design when compared to the ill-fated 2012 original as well as enhanced mech customisation to encourage players to spend in-game. Both games are due to be released sometime between July and September this year. There will also be an unannounced AA game due for release during the first quarter of 2022 and ten A games throughout the year, classified as new titles that have a maximum development budget of €5 million.
Further into the future, there will be the previously announced second title in the Ghostrunner franchise. Digital Bros. also revealed there’s a second game being developed in the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night franchise. Neither of these have a release window, or any further details for that matter. Assetto Corsa 2 is due to be released in 2024, while Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is currently scheduled for fall 2022. Accompanying these is an unannounced game from Spacelords developer Mercurysteam and “several” undisclosed IPs.
Both Assetto Corsa and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night continue to do well. The former has now sold 12 million copies, creating more than €66 million in revenue. The latter has shifted more than 1 million copies and has accrued €30 million in revenue. Meanwhile, Control has added another €11.5 million in revenue since the last sales figures update at the start of April, reaching a total of €71.5 million. It has sold more than 2 million copies.
Premium games make up 88.9% of the company’s yearly revenue. Free-to-play games make up 7.2%, leaving the remaining 3.9% to come from Italian distribution and “other projects”. Due to this, Digital Bros. has decided to move away from publishing agreements. They’re instead going to be increasingly focused on developing premium and free-to-play games internally, or leasing out their owned IPs to external studios. Following the success of the Ghostrunner IP since its acquisition by 505 Games, the company is looking at acquiring another IP relatively soon, although they didn’t say what this could be.
[Source: Digital Bros.]
