Animoca Brands records strong revenue as gaming increases during COVID-19 lockdowns
Animoca Brands has posted record revenue of $4.3 million in April, when most of the world imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
Unlisted game developer Animoca Brands has reported record revenue of $10.5 million during the first four months of 2020 as COVID-19 induced lockdowns provided gamers with more time to play.
The company today released unaudited accounts for the four months ended 30 April, with the total revenue including contributions from the recently acquired businesses nWay Inc, Quidd Inc and Gamee.
Of the total $10.5 million, $6.2 million was achieved during the first quarter (January to March 2020), representing a 44% increase on the corresponding 2019 period.
In April alone, total revenue reached a record $4.3 million, resulting in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of about $380,000 for the month.
Online gaming demand increases as world locks down
In contrast to many sectors around the globe, Animoca Brands benefitted from the widespread COVID-19 induced lockdowns because it increased the amount of available time that gamers had to engage with video games.
Downloads, revenue generation and engagement levels all rose during the period, resulting in Animoca Brands’ business growing during the pandemic.
However, the Hong Kong-headquartered company claimed it was not exempt from the effects that COVID-19 was having on businesses.
“The pandemic impacted the company’s Asian operations beginning in January, followed by its operations in the rest of the world in late February,” it stated.
The company said due to Hong Kong’s “early and effective response” to the pandemic, its head office has been able to operate in a manner “similar to normality” in recent months.
Other financial results
Net unaudited operating cash outflows for the four months totalled $525,000 and total cash and cryptocurrency on hand at the end of April amounted to $8.7 million ($6 million in cash, the rest in Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptocurrencies).
Animoca Brands said its increase in Bitcoin and Ether holdings derived from growth in the company’s blockchain gaming activities, which involved the sale of non-fungible tokens including LAND for The Sandbox, race car and crate sales for F1 Delta Time and collectible hero cards for Crazy Defense Heroes.
Recent developments
Animoca Brands was delisted from the ASX in March due to governance issues and the company’s controversial involvement with cryptocurrency.
Last month, the company commenced trading of its shares on the PrimaryMarkets secondary share trading platform.
It also announced the planned public listing of its health and fitness technology subsidiary OliveX Holdings on Australia’s National Stock Exchange (NSX).
Earlier this month, Animoca Brands revealed it had acquired social gaming platform Gamee in a deal worth more than $8 million.
Gamee provides users with an extensive game library through its website and mobile apps and has developed games in collaboration with recognised brands including NASA, Guinness World Records, Manchester City Football Club and Cartoon Network.
Animoca Brands also recently announced a capital raise of about $6 million from strategic investors including M7 Asia and Mind Fund.
The unsecured convertible notes that Animoca Brands used to raise the funds may convert to equirty in the company at any time or after maturity at a price of $0.18 per share.
The company plans to launch a number of major gaming titles in the second half of 2020, including F1 Delta Time and The Sandbox.