People Can Fly: net loss cut by almost 5x in Q1, “unsatisfactory” launch of Bulletstorm VR, and 5 games in development

Financial highlights

• According to its latest quarterly report, People Can Fly reached PLN 56.8 million (€13.1 million) in revenue in Q1, up 63% year-over-year.
• The company ended the first quarter with a net loss of PLN 864k (€200k), a significant improvement compared a net loss of PLN 4.29 million (€914k) in the same period last year.
• Operating profit was PLN 3.9 million (€925k), compared to an operating loss of PLN 1.5 million (€319k) in Q1 2023.
• Europe accounted for 48% of People Can Fly’s quarterly revenue. For comparison, the region had an 88% share in the same period last year.

Games in development and the failed launch of Bulletstorm VR

• People Can Fly called the launch of Bulletstorm VR, released on January 18 to a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam, “unsatisfactory,” terminating the development and publishing agreement with the game’s developer Incuvo.
• Incuvo won’t be entitled to royalties from Bulletstorm VR anymore, while PCF will be responsible for “creating the final product and managing its commercialisation, including the market launch.”
• PCF continues development work on unannounced game codenamed Project Gemini, which is currently in the production stage. It is worth noting that earlier this year, the company laid off over 30 people working on this title.
• Gemini is expected to be published by Square Enix, and People Can Fly is now “holding strategic discussion” with the Japanese company on the future direction of the project and terms of further partnership. On January 30, the parties entered into a new short-term agreement after the previous deal expired.
• Under another contract deal, the studio continues to work on Project Maverick, an unannounced AAA game based on one of Microsoft’s IPs.
• The Polish developer continues to work on two games under its agreement with PUBG owner Krafton, which acquired a 10% stake in the studio last year. PCF is now working on a vertical slice of Project Bifrost to create a gameplay segment showcasing the core mechanics and a portion of the final graphics, and Project Victoria is currently in the pre-production stage (as is Bifrost).
• Both titles are expected to be self-funded and self-published, but if the company decides to release them under any other model, Krafton will have first rights to negotiate a potential publishing agreement.
• Another unannounced title, Project Red, is currently in the pre-production stage. The company is now looking for a partner to further develop and publish the game.
• In 2024, People Can Fly plans to expand its development teams by “hiring developers with experience in creating AAA video games and compact AAA video games (i.e. games with a shorter development timeframe, lower budget and narrower scope than triple-A titles but with a comparable quality to the latter).”
• The company also keeps working on PCF Framework, a set of proprietary game development software and tools based on Unreal Engine. One of the goals is to build modules for online services to “expand its multiplayer capabilities.”