Swedish games giant Embracer Group has reported a 34 per cent decline in net sales for its PC and console arm.
For the three months ending June 30th, the firm brought in SEK 2.7 billion ($256.8 million), by far the biggest decline within its games divisions. This was due to what the company calls "tough comparisons" aka it didn't have anything that performed nearly as well as in 2023 when Dead Island 2 launched and sold pretty well.
Entertainment and services, meanwhile, fell by 54 per cent. Overall, net sales were down 24 per cent, reaching SEK 7.9 billion ($751 million).
Adjusted EBIT also declined year-on-year; for the first quarter of 2024/25, Embracer had a margin of 10 per cent compared to 16 per cent last year.
The company's developer headcount has also dropped by 41 per cent in the last 12 months; for the three months ending June 30th, this stood at 6,659 creators. Overall, Embracer's total number of employees has fallen by 34.7 per cent to 10,844.
Even though Embracer's PC and console business has proven disappointing in the most recent quarter, CEO Lars Wingefors is optimistic about the shape of things to come.
"The transformation of our PC/Console business continues, and the pipeline of games looks solid," he said.
"We still expect to release completed games with a value of SEK 3.9 billion ($370 million) for the financial year. Our highly anticipated game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, is now confirmed for global release on February 11th, 2025."