Rollercoaster Tycoon rights sale boosts cash at Frontier Developments

Frontier Developments said its cash position had risen to £23.4m at the end of March 2024, up from £19.9m at the end of December 2023, following the sale of rights to one of its hit games. Shares jumped 15 per cent when the market opened on Tuesday.

The Cambridge-based publisher of games such as F1 Manager 2022 and Thrillville sold the publishing rights for its 2004 game Rollercoaster Tycoon Three to Atari in March for $7m (£5.6m).

Rollercoaster Tycoon, which is part of a larger franchise of the same name, has generated net sales of around $1.5m (£1.2m) per year since 2018.

Cash received from the sale during the first three months of the year included $4m (£3.2m) of up-front cash and $3m (£2.4m) of deferred cash.

In March, Frontier released Planet Zoo onto consoles, including Xbox and Playstation, from which it will receive more cash in April and May. It said the launch was successful, but a portion of the revenue from it will be delayed until the financial year 2025.

In a statement on Tuesday, Frontier said: “The board remains comfortable with the financial guidance previously provided for FY24, before taking into account the incremental profit and cash from the sale of the Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 publishing rights. 

“The Board expects to provide an update on the outturn for the financial year in June 2024.”

The Aim-listed stock is up over five per cent year to date, but it has plunged almost 70 per cent since its peak last August.

The stock plunged last year after the company announced an operational review, including cutting up to 20% of costs.

It then took another hit in November when its then-new release, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, came in below expectations over the critical Black Friday period.

The worse-than-expected trading performance caused the company to downgrade its full-year 2024 sales guidance by as much as 20 per cent.