Shares of Wakefield-based video game developer Team17 Group rose almost 5% on Tuesday after it published a trading update ahead of results for the six months ended June 30, 2020.
“The company has experienced strong sales traction during the period,” said Team17.
The company’s share price has soared about 113% in the past year to 540p to give it a stock market value of around £709 million.
“This good performance has been delivered against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 (C-19) pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
“During these unprecedented times the company has seen above expected demand for its back catalogue, which has outperformed pre C-19 expectations, especially at the height of the lock down during April and May.
“In addition, further sales traction and increased playtime was generated across our more socially orientated or multi-player co-op and online games, which has enhanced earnings specifically on key franchise titles such as Worms, Overcooked and The Escapists alongside 2019 new game IPs Golf with Your Friends, Hell Let Loose and the recently released Moving Out.”
In its outlook Team17 said: “Despite the challenges generated by C-19 we are delighted with an excellent start to FY2020 and, as previously announced, we have a solid pipeline of new releases weighted towards the second half of 2020.
“We have more games in development across our label than at any time in our history, including owned IP and are engaging with more partners seeking to have their games be part of our label and continue to see more new gamers playing our games and franchises during C-19.
“Gaming has historically shown good resistance in uncertain economic situations; however, we are in unprecedented times.
“We have started to see the unusually high levels of demand during April and May returning to a more normal level.
“C-19 has proven the resilience of the business during this period, however, there clearly remains a degree of uncertainty as to the longevity and socio-economic effects of C-19 on our markets.
“This, combined with next generation consoles and new IP launches across H2, creates a more unpredictable backdrop to maximise the best commercial opportunities for each game both digitally and physically.
“As such, the board believes it is too early to assess what impact the strong trading in recent months may have on the full year results given the unpredictable trading environment due to C-19.”