Team17 celebrates strong first half

Global video games developer Team17 said a strong performance from new games has boosted trading in the first half and both earnings and revenue will be ahead of market expectations.
Team17's new titles include Hell Let Loose which launched earlier this monthTeam17's new titles include Hell Let Loose which launched earlier this month
Team17's new titles include Hell Let Loose which launched earlier this month

The Wakefield-based group reported a busy release schedule in its first half when it launched a number of new titles, including the multi-platform release of My Time at Portia, along with Hell Let Loose which launched earlier this month.

In addition, the company has released new downloadable content for a number of titles including The Escapists 2 and Overcooked 2.

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Team17 said it has seen strong customer interest in both new and established games since the start of the year.

It said the strong first half performance was driven by sales momentum across the back catalogue, a solid performance across an array of new release titles and the recognition of a higher proportion of revenues relating to license income.

The firm has announced several new partnerships including a deal with Blacklight Interactive in February for the popular Golf with Your Friends! game.

It has also launched a partnership with Hermes Interactive for the indie kitchen puzzle game, Automachef, which is intended for launch on Nintendo Switch and Steam this summer.

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Later this year it will launch the second title from Playtonic Games, called Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and a partnership with The Game Kitchen for the metroidvana 2-D action platformer game Blasphemous.

Team17 said recognition of the quality of its games continued into 2019, with Yoku’s Island Express being awarded the BAFTA for Best Debut Game in April.

Following the update, analyst James Lockyer at Peel Hunt said: "We upgrade our full-year estimates for revenue and EBITDA by 10 per cent this morning on the back of the half year trading update by Team17 flowing through to the outer years.

"This has been driven by strong customer traction from both new and back catalogue games, as well as a higher proportion of revenue from licence income from subscription services.

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"Team17 remains one of our top picks in the market, driven by the content diversity from its 101 games, its stringent green light process and more than 160 years of internal senior management experience."

Analyst Peter Smedley at FinnCap added: "Team17 is an incubator of indie games. It develops and publishes indie games on behalf of small,independent development teams around the world and has a successful long term track record in bringing franchises to market.

"These are low-cost titles, meaning that Team17 can offer a growing and diversified portfolio of IP cost-effectively at low investment levels."

Team17 will announce its first half results in September.

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