Frontier Developments Share Discussion Threads

[rar100] 05/11/2018 13:53

Hopefully the share price will rise after the Mello event and (red)October behind us, no doubt some FDEV enthusiasts will report on FDEV's contribution here, I hope some hard news is devolved...maybe even some hard questions posed.

[davidosh] 04/11/2018 19:42

Just to let you all know that Frontier Developments will be exhibiting and presenting at our MelloLondon investor event in Chiswick W4 next month. MelloLondon is a two day event and starts on Monday 26th November through to Tuesday 27th November. FDEV will be there on the second day. You can find out more here...



There will be 65 quality companies exhibiting and presenting plus some very well known investors, entrepreneurs, fund managers and market commentators providing excellent keynote talks on a range of investment subjects. A number of investment workshops will be available each day and a ShareSoc MasterClass on the final day.

[ck1111] 02/11/2018 06:01

Looking at the dust cloud visuals gives more evidence that paid update will be gas giants and/or atmospheric planets.

[mark4231] 01/11/2018 22:54

It does look really good, and again players' reactions to the planned updates are enthusiastic. Hopefully FDEV have a good plan for enticing new players with this update too as well as pleasing existing players. I'm looking forward to exploding asteroids whilst in VR!

[ck1111] 01/11/2018 22:01

Except from the latest livestream on the ED beta showing the revised mining



now this is cool

[mark4231] 01/11/2018 13:47

You remember right.

[shanklin] 01/11/2018 13:36

I am not sure if I imagined this, but IIRC Hastings stated fairly recently that there are 100 people working on ED. If this is correct, they must be looking at some pretty meaty new functionality.

[mark4231] 01/11/2018 13:11

Good question and my answer is, I don't know, but look at No Man's Sky, which had a similar update recently, and seems to be doing well for it. ED has been accused of being a mile wide and an inch deep and the upcoming update seems to try and address that. So, people who didn't buy it before may well be tempted now but I think the message will have to be got out there - either by community chatter or some marketing by FDEV - that the game has had a substantial overhaul. For me, the fact that FDEV have put so much effort into something for existing owners that what they plan next (that they've confirmed they're already working on and will be paid for) must be even more exciting. Something like the introduction of atmospheric planets (my speculation), and the game play that would go with that, could make it a whole new game. And this would be in parallel to the launch of the fourth franchise which most investors are concentrating on.

[vworlds_cambridge] 01/11/2018 13:03

I think we'll know more in a few weeks, as the new features are gradually being unveiled. Significant new sales may require a very big new feature (hopefully paid content next year). However, it will certainly keep sales of game extras ticking along - I've personally spent much more on extras than the base game now, and this is directly through the Frontier store, so no slice for Steam.

[shanklin] 01/11/2018 12:42

Would you expect them to generate a lot more new sales of ED off the back off this update please?

[vworlds_cambridge] 01/11/2018 11:32

Hi Mark. Very much agree - great update, and difficult to go back to the old game once you've tried out the beta. There are more features being rolled out into the beta, before a general release (hopefully in December).

Although this is a free update, comments in the Frontier forums suggest that plenty of people have been buying game extras (they have been having a Halloween sale).

[mark4231] 01/11/2018 09:22

I tried the Elite: Dangerous beta of the next update last night, just for 20 minutes or so - it is huge. If they have made that much effort for an update that is free to existing owners, it makes me excited for the future paid update(s) for the game that they have said they are already working on.

hxxps://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/452944-Beyond-Chapter-Four-Beta-1?p=7117761#post7117761

[mark4231] 01/11/2018 09:01

Shanklin, yes, they're pretty typical. If you go to steamdb.info you can see graphs of the price of different games on Steam over time. I only ever buy games on sale, other than FDEV games which I buy full price on release for research purposes. :-)

Related, there was controversy when the recent Tomb Raider game was discounted only a month after release.

hxxps://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-10-21-shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-is-on-sale-and-early-adopters-are-not-happy

JWE had a small discount, for a weekend, 3 months after release and then this discount 4.5 months after release.

[endion] 01/11/2018 08:59

Absolutely shanklin. In fact a lot of games come out on sale right off the bat! Its the halloween sale currently, then we'll have the christmas and new year sale later on. I dont have any unit sales numbers to give you Im afraid though!

[phowdo] 01/11/2018 08:44

Yes, everyone in the industry does it.

[shanklin] 01/11/2018 08:42

Anybody any thoughts please on the recent Steam sale on FDEV games:
- ED:Commander Deluxe Edition (60% off, £39.99-->£15.99)
- Or individually ED (60% off, £19.99-->£7.99), Commander Pack (15% off, £8.00-->£6.80), Horizons Seasons Pass (60% off, £19.99-->£7.99)
- Planet Coaster (60% off, £29.99-->£11.99), with 15% discounts on Vintage Pack and Studio Pack, but recent World's Fair Pack at full price
- JWE Deluxe (35% off, £49.99-->£32.49), JWE (35% off, £44.99-->£29.24)

Are these fairly typical price reductions given the sales histories of the games?

[mark4231] 31/10/2018 17:14

That would be nice, there is potential for news on various fronts - Elite: Dangerous update/Planet Coaster update/next franchise announcement/China/acquisitions etc as well as pre-Christmas sales giving the share price a kick up. Worst case is we have to wait until the interim results in early February where we already know that first half revenue for FY18/19 is much greater than full year revenue for FY17/18 (or any other previous year).

[czeck] 31/10/2018 15:36

hxxps://www.businessweekly.co.uk/blog/cambridge-today-blog/look-left-field-cambridge-sight-genuine-tech-unicorns

Lets hope for a rally here in the run up to Xmas!

[mark4231] 30/10/2018 20:49

Both JWE and Planet Coaster are on the front page of the Steam UK Top Sellers at the moment, as Steam are having a Halloween sale.

[endion] 30/10/2018 18:15

Well if we look simply short term, JWE will provide a massive lift in revenue. This will provide Fdev with a solid cash base to grow the company further. Once we know what the fourth franchise is, the forward outlook beyond that will become clearer. Whether or not you believe that JWE was a sucess or not, remember that Frontier do not consider their games as finished upon delivery. Elite player numbers has grown over the years, not shrunk, and whilst there may be a current lull in JWE players I inagine that once Frontier start rolling out the updates the players will return. As it is, once you have played the campaign there is not a whole lot to draw you back, hence the drop of in players who have mostly all completed the game. I would like to see Fdev address this issue, making the game more conducive to ongoing gameplay.

Sorry to hear you lost money here so far Euro. I would argue that even though you may currently be at a loss you wont be in a years time. Of course you have to follow your own research and do whats right for you. Or have you already sold your entire holding here?

[mark4231] 30/10/2018 16:57

Although it would be nice for FDEV to produce the next Fortnite/PUBG or whatever it would be too risky for them to attempt that - better to do what they're doing and concentrate on the niches that they're good at. Less risk of a flop, but less potential for a runaway hit like those games.

Ironically, of course, Fortnite's business model is to give the game away for free with all income coming from DLC. :-)

[mr euro] 30/10/2018 16:46

"they recently delivered, from a sales perspective, a decent game". Aren't sales the most important thing for shareholders?

It's more important yes, but it's a lost opportunity. Nobody is playing JWE, for a game that is so good in many ways, they lost their users on the development/design journey. They could have a big loyal user base, pumping out great paid expansions/skins etc..

That actually doesn't concern me (assuming they can fix things going forward which is no easy task) as much as the future of the firm. They might develop the next fortnite or the next failure, nobody knows yet. What we do know if they have a lot of eggs in 1 basket and they have a £500m valuation. DLC's and expansions are add-ons and small revenue streams.

I wish them every success, I have lost money on FDEV, I listened to the hype, then did my research, a fair chunk lighter but a lot wiser.

[mark4231] 30/10/2018 16:22

Mr Euro, you said "they recently delivered, from a sales perspective, a decent game". Aren't sales the most important thing for shareholders?

I do think Planet Coaster is a better game than JWE - from playing them and looking at reviews - but JWE has the advantage of the film franchise and is also selling on that basis. 1 million units sold by mid-July was great. I do hope (and expect) though that FDEV will significantly improve JWE to trigger extra new sales, perhaps in the run up to this Christmas?

[mr euro] 30/10/2018 16:13

My thoughts;

What figures are you basing the statement that "hardly anyone plays the game" on?

- Look at viewership and gaming KPI's, very easy to find

Also, steam have a maximum refund date, you cant just return it whenever you want

- correct and I never said otherwise. I stated they had lost revenue as people refunded when they bought it as the game didnt meet expectations

- DLC's on old games bring in peanuts and hardly contribute to a £500m valuation.

I do think they need to be putting out more games every year and not have all the eggs in 1 basket. On the positive side 2 directors buying has to be a positive sign, but it doesn't mitigate the risk and they are 1 failure away from disaster.