Social gaming developer Playstudios posted revenue figures of $74.1m (£52.7m/€61.1m) for the first quarter of 2021 – a 27.1% increase on this time last year – as overall customers declined but paying customers rose.
Although the average number of daily active users (1.3m) and monthly active users (3.7m) of Playstudios products decreased for the quarter – by 21.9% and 18.4% respectively – the average number of daily paying users increased by 9.1% to 36,000.
Playstudios’ operating expenses were $66.5m, representing a 27.4% increase from last year.
Cost of revenue rose 24.3% to $24.5m, whilst general and administrative costs fell to $4.3m. Research and development cost $14.7m, $17.0m was spent on selling and marketing, and depreciation and amortization amounted to $6.0m.
Gross income increased 23.7% to $7.3m, while income from operations increased 25.4% to $7.6m.
The $5.9m worth of net income generated – after accounting for $1.3m paid in income tax – meanwhile, was also an improvement on Q1 2020, up 7.8% from $5.5m.
The lucrative quarter experienced by the company coincides with it being listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in February, where it was valued at $1.1bn through a deal with Acies Acquisition Corp.
Adjusted EBITDA rose to $14.5m, up 7.7% from 2020.
Playstudios CEO Andrew Pascal said the business will look to expand further into new types of games.
“2021 is off to a strong start,” he said. “Looking ahead, we expect the results for the rest of 2021 will reflect the combination of the current momentum in our existing portfolio with new game expansions into two of the fastest growing game categories — bingo and idle role-playing games, or RPG.
“In addition to our 2021 new game launches, looking ahead to the closing of the business combination with Acies and the reopening of the economy, which will reactivate many of the rewards in our playAwards program, we feel we are well-positioned to enjoy continued organic growth as well as act on key strategic acquisitions.
“We are excited by the opportunity to continue to scale our unique playAwards loyalty program for the benefit of our shareholders.”