Control tops €92 million in revenue, sequel to have budget of €50 million

Italian publisher Digital Bros has released its financial report for the six months ended December 31, 2022. The company also disclosed sales and other data for its main revenue-generating games.

Financial highlights

• Digital Bros posted net revenue of €59.8 million, up 8.1% year-over-year.
• Sales of premium games and free-to-play titles accounted for 76% and 20.8% of the publisher’s total revenue, respectively.
• The company’s EBITDA reached €18.6 million, down 5.8% compared to the same period in 2021.
• Net profit was €11 million, up 5.7% year-over-year.

Breakdown of Digital Bros’ premium games revenue

Control and its sequel

• In its financial report, Digital Bros noted that Control has generated over €92 million in revenue and sold more than 3 million units globally.
• It is worth noting that Remedy has already posted the same figure in its report for FY2021: “By the end of 2021, the game has been played by approximately 15m players worldwide and sold more than 3.0m copies.”
• So it is unclear why the sales figure hasn’t changed between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022.
• The game had a €30 million budget and was financed 50/50 by Remedy and Digital Bros’ subsidiary 505 Games. The Finnish developer was entitled to a 45% share of net revenue.
• Considering that Control generated over €92 million, Remedy made around €41.4 from its sales.
• In its latest financial report, Digital Bros also noted that initial investments in Control 2 its multiplayer spin-off codenamed Condor amount to €50 million and €25 million. Both titles will be built with Remedy’s proprietary Northlight engine and will come out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Other games in Digital Bros’ portfolio

• Racing simulator Assetto Corsa has surpassed €104 million in revenue with over 28 million units sold (as of December 31, 2022).
• Cyberpunk action game Ghostrunner has sold over 1 million units globally. The sequel is expected to launch in the first half of the next fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023.
• Free-to-play puzzle title Gems of War has reached over €33 million since its launch on October 29, 2014.
• Puzzle RPG Puzzle Quest 3 has generated over $200 million and attracted over 32 million players globally.
• Eiyuden Chronicle, an upcoming JRPG from the creators of the Suikoden series, is expected to surpass €30 million in lifetime revenue.