Sumo Group sales jump during lockdowns

Games developer Sumo Group, which makes games for Microsoft, Sega and Sony, said it performed very strongly in 2020, boosted by the pandemic as people spent lockdowns playing video games at home.
Sumo announced a large number of games in 2020, including Sackboy: A Big AdventureSumo announced a large number of games in 2020, including Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Sumo announced a large number of games in 2020, including Sackboy: A Big Adventure

The Sheffield-based group said both revenue and earnings will be ahead of consensus market expectations for the year to December 31.

Earnings for the year will be at least £16m and the firm said the higher than expected results reflect strong performances from Sumo Digital and its latest acquisition, Pipeworks, plus higher than expected royalty income.

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Headcount increased to 1,043 at the year end, including 139 people at Pipeworks and 40 at Lab42, an increase of 277 on the prior year.

Carl Cavers, chief executive of Sumo, said: "The year has been extraordinary in many respects.

"Sumo Group performed very strongly in an already fast growing market that was further boosted by the effects of the pandemic.

"We are a people business and I'd particularly like to thank all of our people for making our collective response to the pandemic a truly inspirational story which unfortunately isn't over yet.

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"We're keen to return to some level of normality in our studios in the various countries as the vaccine roll-out progresses. In the meantime, we continue to work well from home and have the ongoing support from our partners to do so. We are focused on making great games and continue to operate at good levels of efficiency with no significant delays to production schedules."

The firm announced a large number of games in 2020, including Spyder, Little Orpheus, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Hood.

It also completed two great acquisitions, Lab42 and Pipeworks.

Mr Cavers said: "I was delighted to welcome both of these teams to Sumo Group and am pleased to report that both businesses are fitting in very well and have performed ahead of our expectations.

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"Pipeworks and Genvid announced Rival Peak, a massive interactive live event styled game for Facebook livestream in December.

"Our royalty performance in 2020 is also ahead of our expectations. We recognised royalties on eight games."

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