Low risk, long lifecycle games
Stillfront acquires and develops game studios for the purpose of creating a diversified portfolio of games with strong IPs. Our titles are typically long lifecycle games with a loyal user base and stable revenues. The active portfolio, generating revenues every day, consists of some 60 games divided into three product areas: Strategy; Simulation, RPG & Action; and Casual & Mash-up. The portfolio mix enables for diversified revenue streams and strong cash flows without having to depend heavily on the success of a few specific titles.
Stillfront operates in a highly competitive market, in which we compete with other game developers, as well as other forms of digital entertainment. The industry is consolidating as the major players, especially publishers and distributors, are expanding and acquiring studios globally. What is paramount for Stillfront is that we offer a diversified portfolio of games with broad appeal to gamers, developed and produced organically or through acquisitions, and that we work methodically to improve the retention of our games throughout their lifetime.
Our strategies to mitigate risk
In an industry that produces an excess of new releases and a few monster hits, we deploy two primary strategies to mitigate risk; the first is to have a diversified portfolio of games and the second is to develop games with long lifetime value that can sustain healthy revenue levels for years and even decades to come. This, in turn, forms the basis and provides the cash flows for developing and financing new launches.
Stillfront’s studios design, produce and market free-to-play (F2P) games. F2P games enable us to develop games in an iterative fashion with a minor initial investment. The free-to-play segment is a data-driven, process-oriented business. We develop, test, iterate and optimize our games in close cooperation with our users. F2P games allow the user access to the game without paying for it. The users are then able to make purchases or pay for access to new content throughout the lifetime of the game.
Recurring income, at a low cost, is driven by the ability to retain users over a longer period. Our games usually have a long lifecycle and can be extended through continual updates. Regular updates are made continuously in the games to maintain and create new interest among users. This is called live ops. By actively managing the portfolio and working systematically with live ops across our markets, we can increase both retention and monetization in our games.
The Stillops platform
Stillfront is well positioned for further growth in the coming years with our unique operating model. Our distributed operating model ensures that studios that join Stillfront maintain their unique identities and retain operational autonomy, while getting access to a vast amount of resources, data, knowledge and tools generated from across the group’s studios.
Stillfront’s operational platform is called the Stillops platform. The platform consists of five main pillars: Stillbase (our knowledge exchange platform), Stillsuite (our shared tools and technology), Stillhubs (our distributed expertise and services), Stillforce (our collaborations and distributed growth initiatives), and Stillreach (our global performance marketing expertise and channels).
The Stillops platform enables for positive synergies across our gaming studios, whilst the distributed approach ensures speed and enables us to leverage each studio’s strengths. By having access to user data derived from several billion game downloads across our diversified portfolio, our studios can share best-practice across geographies and benefit from collaborating with other studios across the globe.
Our strong brands and marketing skills in the F2P model, paired with our successful Stillops platform and a strong track-record of value creating acquisitions, provide a good foundation for continued strong growth well above the market for many years to come.
