SCi set for better than expected first half results
British publisher SCi has announced that it is on track to deliver significantly better than expected results for the six months to March 31st thanks to strong back catalogue sales, with anticipated losses pared back significantly.
British publisher SCi has announced that it is on track to deliver significantly better than expected results for the six months to March 31st thanks to strong back catalogue sales, with anticipated losses pared back significantly.
The company generally expects to make a loss in the first half of the year due to its product release schedule, which this year saw only three SKUs launched - namely Rolling on PS2 and Xbox (a title which was picked up after Rage went bankrupt), and the GameCube version of Conflict: Desert Storm 2.
However, it now expects its first half loss to be no more than £1 million, as opposed to the previously anticipated £4 million figure, mostly due to the strong performance of back catalogue titles throughout the period.
The company also has plans to continue to build on this back catalogue of titles, and has announced Japanese distribution agreements with Capcom for Conflict: Desert Storm (which will be called Conflict Delta in the Far East) and with Marvelous Entertainment for The Great Escape.
SCi also plans to continue the Conflict franchise, with the third title in the series, Conflict: Vietnam, still on track for release in September, while a fourth title is well underway with a view to launching in the second half of 2005, and initial design work is already in progress on a fifth game.
Other new additions to SCi's product pipeline include a return to one of its most popular franchises, Carmageddon, which has recently moved into full development at Visual Sciences in Scotland, while the company has also announced that it is set to publish Rogue Trooper, the next 2000AD license to be developed into a videogame by Oxford-based Rebellion following the disappointing Dredd vs Death.
SCi has not announced its revised financial expectations for the full year, but it's reasonable to expect that the company - which anticipated a profit in its second half that would more than compensate for the first half loss - will now have upgraded its full year profit expectations.