Embracer Group net sales increased 89% in FY 2022

Embracer Group has published its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2022 report, showing that while net sales for the quarter and year rose 117% and 89% respectively, its propensity for acquiring studios has impacted the publishing giant’s bottom line.

Back-to-back acquisitions can do that though, and it’s nothing that concerns chief executive officer Lars Wingefors, who called it “another stable year,” despite taking a SEK 4.29 billion hit ($431 million) in losses after taxes. As with any studio, bigger concerns lie ahead. 

Such as the now 223 game development projects currently active within the company, across all its branches that are expected to release from now through to FY 25/26. 

Altogether, in just the last quarter, SEK 950.1 million ($95.9 million) was invested into game development, which the company reports is “the highest amount ever in a single quarter” it has put towards those efforts. 

This big push falls perfectly in line with expectations for Embracer, as Wingefors “make 200 games instead of 1” logic has the company looking at the future with positivity. 

“Looking ahead, we expect to achieve substantial organic growth in FY 22/23 primarily driven by our premium games segment through multiple releases,” said Wingefors. “We expect to release new content with at least 3x higher accumulated investment value.”

For that to be the case, Embracer’s top releases will have to fare better than this year. Elex II for exampleis off to a slow start, but the company remains confident it will eventually pick up.

And though it was critically acclaimed, Embracer Group reports “no royalties were recognized in the quarter,” for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, though it remains confident that will change in the new year. 

Embracer’s hope is that it can have a repeat of the success Valheim saw, which is also part of the reason the company says a negative comparison to Coffee Stain Publishing’s “breakout success” last year was expected. 

“We hope and believe we have many more of those successes in the pipeline in the year to come.”