Admittedly, there are already a few Gameloft titles on Steam or even on our console stores, but for the moment these are only ports of games already released on iOS and Android, such as Asphalt 9: Legends to cite an example. recent. However, with Gameloft Paris, we are talking about taking a step forward by producing games especially for consoles and the PC, in other words a strategic development that must be pointed out, 22 years after the creation of Gameloft by Michel Guillemot and 8 years after its takeover by Vivendi.
Directed by Julien Billard (Ubisoft, Oh BiBi), this studio located not far from the headquarters of the company will first seek to expand by aiming for 30 employees by the end of the year. Belonging to a “gender under-represented in France“, the studio’s first game will feature “an action and sports oriented multiplayer experience” and will therefore be released on consoles and PC with support for the crossplay.
But before seeing the first game from Gameloft Paris land, let’s remember that Gameloft will launch its first two titles intended specifically for consoles and the PC this year: the Disney racing game Speedstorm and the Disney life simulation Dreamlight Valley, which will work every two on a free-to-play model.
Losing momentum in the mobile market
While awaiting the first results of its show productions, Gameloft is responding to requests for new offers from the mobile market and has positioned itself in the Apple Arcade subscription, in particular with The Oregon Trailwithout forgetting to take its first steps in the Netflix subscription by offering Asphalt Xtremea 2016 game.
But Gameloft’s shift responds to the urgent need for diversification of a company that has been struggling for a few years. In other words, to put things clearly: Gameloft’s turnover, workforce and number of active users have continued to decline since the takeover of Vivendi, which had also done everything to force its way and seize Ubisoft the same way.
However, there has been improvement since last year. In 2021, Gameloft’s turnover reached 265 million euros, up from 253 million in 2020 but still far from the form of the years 2015-2017, when revenue had stabilized around 320 million euros. euros. In the red in 2019 and 2020 with an operating loss of 36 and 24 million euros respectively, Gameloft pulled its head out of the water last year by making an operating profit of 8 million euros. Despite this improvement, Vivendi recognized a depreciation of 200 million euros related to Gameloft in its balance sheet for the year 2021. Asphalt 9: Legends, Disney Magic Kingdoms, Dragon Mania Legends, march of empires and Asphalt 8: Airborne accounted for 47% of the publisher’s total revenue in 2021.