Enemy Front becomes a "commercial failure", but the developers come out on top – CI Games sums up 2014
CI Games has summarized its achievements in 2014. Despite Enemy Front becoming a "commercial failure", the success of Lords of the Fallen made Marek Tyminski, CEO of the company, pleased with the outcome.
CI Games has prepared a summary report for 2014 and used this opportunity to reveal the company’s plans for the future. Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, planned for 2016, is being developed using CryEngine technology, as were the previous installments. We are going to find out whether this time the Polish developer has made proper use of this powerful too in June, as the game will appear in playable form at E3. Less information was divulged about Lords of the Fallen 2 – we don't even know whether German studio Deck13 Interactive will once again take the helm of the production, as the necessary agreement has not yet been signed. However, this does not necessarily mean a change of the developer, as this Polish action RPG for "hardcore" gamers will launch no sooner than 2017. In addition, we’ve learned that the mobile adaptation of Lords of the Fallen will use the free-to-play model.
The sales results of CI Games have also been revealed. The Sniper: Ghost Warrior series has sold more than 5.5 million copies so far: 3.5 million of the first part (published in 2010), and 2 million of the second part (2013). Since its debut at the end of October 2014, Lords of the Fallen has sold 900 thousand copies.
The managers of the company are pleased with its results and anticipate its dynamic development. However, they are not delusional and do not claim that the period from January to December last year was a continuous string of successes.The company achieved revenue amounting to PLN 109 million (it’s about 1.7 million more than in 2013), of which net profit reached PLN 2 million. It's a much weaker result than PLN 29.7 million of income in 2013, but as Marek Tyminski, CEO of CI Games said: "This is very good news, if you take into account the expenses incurred during the production of Lords of the Fallen, and, unfortunately, the commercial failure of Enemy Front." Keep in mind that Lords of the Fallen was a much larger title than the company's current projects; its development absorbed more than PLN 30 million, a sum similar to the budget of The Witcher 2. What's more, it was released in the fourth quarter of the year, which is the period reserved for the biggest and flashiest premieres.
The board of CI Games is even more pleased with the company's achievements in the past year because it managed to mark its presence in the US market. As much as 44.5 percent of the company's turnover was attributed to this area. There has also been a growth in the share of digital distribution in the generated revenue, rising from 11 percent (in 2013) to 24 percent.
It is worth mentioning the changes coming in the development strategy of CI Games. Those apply not only to entering the mobile games market (beginning with two titles in 2015), but also putting more emphasis on cooperation with external developer studios, polishing up the company’s productions on the conceptual and artistic side, and marking its presence on the market as a publisher of independently developed as well as licensed title that would deliver the products to retailers and online stores worldwide.
