Gameloft Announces Q4 Sales Of $38.2 Million

Officials from French mobile developer Gameloft (New York Nights) have announced details of the company's sales results for the last quarter of 2007. Gameloft, which is also edging into console/handheld markets with titles such as Prince Of Persia Classic for Xbox Live Arcade, has posted consolidated sales of €25.8 million ($38.2 million) in the last quarter of 2007, up by 19 percent from the previous year. Full year sales increased by 40% compared to 2006, reaching €96.1 million ($142.2 million). The sales of downloadable games, which are the company's core business, reached €90.2 million ($133.5 million) during 2007, increasing by 45%. Europe represented 44% of sales for full-year 2007, North America 34% and the rest of the world 22%. The sharpest growth took place in the rest of the world, up 86%. In contrast, North America was the slowest growing region - Gameloft note reasons including the drop in the dollar and slowdown in market growth. In 2006, Europe, North America and the rest of the world represented respectively 43%, 41% and 17% of Gameloft's total sales. "The market shares gained by the company in 2007 are due to the strong performance of Gameloft's back catalogue, which continued to account for more than 70% of the Company's downloads, and also investments in R&D made in 2007," said a Gameloft representative. "These investments allowed us to release more games than our competitors on more handsets across more countries. To date, Gameloft's catalogue includes 200 mobile games adapted to over 1,200 different handsets and sold in over 80 countries via direct distribution agreements signed with more than 180 carriers." Gameloft had a staff of 4,000 at the end of 2007, up 50% over the end of 2006. The company is also planning to adapt part of its game catalogue on new devices such as the iPod, Nintendo DS and Xbox Live Arcade. Over the first half of 2008, Gameloft is planning to release many titles such as Grey's Anatomy, Might & Magic Online, CSI: the mobile game and Block Breaker 2. The drop in the dollar and the slowdown in the growth of its market in the United States have led Gameloft to revise downwards its forecasts for 2008. The company is now planning growth in sales of 25% to 30% for 2008 (compared to over 30% previously) as well as an operating margin (excluding employee stock based compensation) expected between 10% and 15% (compared to around 15% previously). The group's results for 2008 will be published on 27 March 2008.