Frontier Developments to Refocus on Sims After Diversifying Offerings Fell Short, Will Support Elite Dangerous

mmorpg.com:

Frontier Developments is going back to its roots, declaring the company will return to focusing on sims, which brought the company its original string of successes. This comes after efforts to diversify the studio’s offerings were not as successful as they hoped.

Those efforts to diversify include the recent release of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin , the first Warhammer RTS the company released less than two weeks ago. While reviews were strongly positive, sales have been lower than expected. Even with this initial disappointment, the team will continue to support Realms of Ruin with post-release content, including DLC and they expect sales to improve over time, especially with those efforts.

Getting back to what worked for Frontier is at the forefront of the new business update, with the announcement of three new sims on the way. There will be one released in each of the next three financial years (‘25-’27). This seems like a safe bet for Frontier, and that’s what they’re counting on. Their four currently released titles, Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, Jurassic World Evolution and Jurassic World Evolution 2 , were all profitable within one month of release and brought in over 100% return on investment in the first year. The first three games have been out for more than four years and each of those has delivered over 250% ROI and counting. 

The teams will continue to support the existing portfolio, including Realms of Ruin, Elite Dangerous, and F1 Manager. The older sims are also expected to continue their success.

Frontier had already announced some layoffs would be part of its financial adjustments, and the latest business update adjusts their expected fiscal year 2024 revenue down from £108 million ($128.5