The valuation on the Warsaw Stock Exchange of the WIG Games Index of developer companies has almost caught up with the highs of early autumn 2023, when games companies worldwide got a sudden reality check. A glut of new titles, funded during the Covid pandemic when money was cheap, tanked.
The Polish games index is heavily skewed towards one major player, CD-Projekt – the world-beating developer of the Witcher and Cyberpunk series of games – which accounts for 70% of the weighting of the index.
In the current global games market it is the big players that are getting investor’s money.
The top 43 new releases in 2023 grossed 90% of the market, while the remaining 14,500 new games had to scrap for a 10% market share, according to game data firm Newcoo.
Meanwhile, the new post-Covid reality means that game buyers are online less, with many focusing on classic games and special editions, rather than testing out niche players, according to Newcoo.
However, times may be changing. Analysts see new titles coming online from other horses in Poland’s innovative stable of game developers as one of the reasons for a modicum of optimism.
A game called Manor House, by lone Polish developer Grzegorz Styczeń, sold some 2 million copies online in the first days of its release, grossing close to $50 million, according to stockwatchers’ website Strefa Inwestorów.
Local game developer valuations began to shoot up as a result, investors interviewed by Strefa Inwestorów said.
This uptick comes after months of cost cutting and layoffs in Poland’s game sector, which has the largest number of listed companies worldwide, including many companies from the Central and Eastern European region.
Hopefuls in the next season include the launch of a war-themed game called “Uboat” developed by Deep Water Studio and PlayWay.
Meanwhile fellow Warsaw-listed company 11 bit Studios is publishing the fantasy adventure game “Creatures of Ava”, created by a Spanish development team.
Another debut in August is due from Gaming Factory. Their latest offering JDM: Rise of the Scorpion is out in the first half of the month.
