“Game On” is The Fly's weekly roundup of stories that strengthen or beat video game stocks.
New release: This week's most notable release is the PC port of . SonyGhost of Tsushima, an open-world action game, was released on PlayStation 4 in 2020. The PC version will be available on May 16th.
SIE changes: A quarterly financial report is also included. Sony and Sony Interactive Entertainment have announced a new management structure for SIE. Effective June 1, Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group, and Harmen Hulst will be appointed CEO of SIE's Studio Business Group. Hiroki Totoki, who had been serving as interim CEO of SIE, will assume the role of chairman of SIE in addition to his roles as president, COO, and CFO of Sony Group Corporation. Mr. Nishino and Mr. Hulst will report directly to Mr. Totoki and will work closely together to strengthen each core business while maximizing synergies within SIE. Mr. Nishino is currently Senior Vice President of the Platform Experience Group. Mr. Hulst currently serves as SVP and Head of PlayStation Studios.
More revenue: Last week, Electronic Arts (EA) reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and net bookings, with net bookings expected to be weaker in Q1 and FY25. The company noted that overall net bookings for FY24 increased 1% year over year, but that growth was highlighted by “record cash flow” and strong revenue growth from EA Sports FC and Madden NFL. did.
Following the report, BMO, Baird and Deutsche Bank all lowered their price targets for EA, with BMO saying the below-Street results were primarily due to headwinds from Apex Legends, live services and tight title-specific comps. he pointed out. However, Germany's Benjamin Soff said the multi-year outlook still showed potential for margins.
On the other hand, Roblox (RBLX) also reported quarterly results last week, with first-quarter revenue and bookings beating Wall Street expectations and sales increasing 22% year-over-year. His average daily active users also increased by 17%, and his monthly average unique players also increased by 13% year over year. However, looking ahead, the company gave a conservative forecast for the number of reservations for the second quarter and lowered its forecast for the number of reservations for FY2024.
More than a dozen analysts lowered their price targets for Roblox following the report, but Moffett Nathanson bucked that trend and upgraded the stock from “sell” to “neutral.” The company cited the upgrade's valuation following a 22% drop after Thursday's earnings, adding that Roblox's risk and reward “feels more balanced.” The company notes that it has partners ready and willing to invest in the platform, even though 2024 is the build year for Roblox's advertising plans.
Square Enix Strategy Change/Layoffs: Video game publisher Square Enix (SQNXF) announced a three-year plan called “Square Enix Reboot and Awakening.” In doing so, the company wants to rethink many parts of its business, most notably “moving to a multi-platform strategy,” he told IGN's Wesley Inpool. Masu.MSFT-Square-Enix-plans-to-aggressively-pursue-multiplatform-strategy-IGN-says&utm_source=https://thefly.com/news.php%3fsymbol=SQNXF&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=referral_traffic” target=”_blank”> reported. The company intends to “aggressively pursue a multi-platform strategy,” including Nintendo (NTDOY) consoles, PlayStation, Xbox (MSFT), and PC, the authors said. The Fly points out that there have been several high-profile releases from Square Enix in recent years, including Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which were released exclusively on PlayStation 5.
Additionally, VideoGamesChronicle's Andy Robinson reported that Square Enix plans to make an unconfirmed number of job cuts as part of a broader business review. President Takashi Kiryu said both the video game maker's U.S. and European divisions have been hit with layoffs, which are expected to occur within the next month, according to staff who attended the internal meeting. The scale of the layoffs was not shared, but Robinson noted that employees have been informed that those working in publishing, IT, and the company's Collective Indie Games division will be primarily affected.
Other featured stories:
- Gamesindustry.biz reports that Bethesda's Fallout 4 led UK game sales in April even as console sales plummeted (read more)
- Sony announced that Xbox game 'Sea of Thieves' was the best-selling digital PlayStation 5 game in Europe last month (read more)
- According to Bloomberg, Microsoft plans to launch its own mobile game store in July (read more)
- Meanwhile, The Verge reports that Microsoft is internally debating whether to put future Call of Duty games on Game Pass (read more)
- Ubisoft (UBSFY) The official title of “Assassin's Creed Codename Red” has been confirmed to be “Assassin's Creed Shadows” (Read more)
- GameStop stock (GME) Keith Gill, or “Roaring Kitty”, is on the rise again (read more)
