Here's How Much Money Witcher 3 Dev Made in Last Three Months
"Good RPGs continue to sell for years."
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt studio CD Projekt Red parent company CD Projekt Group today reported earnings for the first quarter of 2016 (January 1-March 31). The results were strong, as continued sales of the celebrated RPG and its DLC helped boost the company's bottom line.
In terms of revenue, the company pulled in PLN 87 million ($22.5 million) for the three-month period, with PLN 32.6 million ($8.4 million) in profit. By comparison, CD Projekt reported only PLN 25.6 million ($6.6 million) in revenue for the same quarter last year, while the company had a loss of PLN 5.2 million ($1.34 million) during that quarter.
Note that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched in May 2015.
As you might have guessed, sales are being boosted this quarter in part by the huge success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (May 2015) and the Hearts of Stone expansion pack (October 2015).
Revenue attributable directly to CD Projekt Red the developer was PLN 68.1 million ($17.6 million), while the studio's profit was PLN 34.1 million ($8.8 million). This compares to PLN 6.6 million ($1.7 million) in revenue and a loss of PLN 4.8 million ($1.2 million) during the January-March period of 2015, when The Witcher 3 had not yet been released.
"Results achieved in the recent quarters prove that the release of The Witcher 3 was a quantum leap for us in terms of business activity," CD Projekt VP Piotr Nielubowicz said in a statement. "The first quarter of the current year is the third consecutive period of continuing strong sales of The Witcher, and of record-breaking revenues for the whole Capital Group."
"Good RPGs continue to sell for years and we know how to animate sales and pique gamers' interest," CD Projekt's Adam Kicinski added.
He went on to say that The Witcher 3's final expansion, Blood and Wine (May 31), is expected to be "very well received by gamers and gaming media alike," boosting sales further still.
You can read CD Projekt Red's full earnings report here [PDF].
CD Projekt Red will release a new game later this year. Interestingly, the unannounced title will be a "new type of video game format previously unexplored by the studio."
Looking beyond that, CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 is penciled in for launch in the 2017-2021 window, which is also when the developer plans to release another AAA RPG.
For more on the health of other video game companies, check out summaries of recent reports below. Check back soon for more, as Ubisoft will announce its latest earnings later today.
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