WINKING STUDIOS LIMITED

(Company Registration No. 159882)

(Incorporated in the Cayman Islands)

14 August 2026

Half Year Results for the period ended 30 June 2026

Strong revenue growth, with accelerated strategic investments supporting the Group's next phase of growth

Winking Studios Limited (AIM / SGX: WKS) ("Winking Studios" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"), one of the leading global AAA game art outsourcing studios and an established game development company, announces its unaudited results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2026 ("1H2026").

Financial Summary

¹ The Group's statutory result for the period under review, and the items giving rise to the difference between the statutory and adjusted measures, are detailed under "Statutory Result" in the CFO's Review. A full reconciliation of the Group's adjusted performance measures to the corresponding statutory measures is set out in Section G - Other Information of this results announcement.

Financial & Operational Highlights

 Strategic Highlights

 Outlook

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (Founder) of Winking Studios, Johnny Jan, commented: "The first half demonstrates the strength of our core business and the scale of the opportunity we are building towards. Revenue grew by 21%, led by strong demand for art outsourcing, while repeat business and our bookings provide good visibility over underlying activity.

"At the same time, we chose to accelerate investment in two areas where we see significant long-term potential: building a stronger North American presence through the acquisition of and further investment into Ampera and developing AI-enabled game development capabilities. We are encouraged by the larger opportunities entering the Ampera pipeline and the early commercial traction we are seeing from AI-enabled game development.

"Our AI initiative is principally focused on enhancing game-development workflows. Game art production continues to depend on human creativity, artistic judgement and rigorous quality control.

"Our focus is on building Winking Studios into a broader, end-to-end game development partner that combines high-quality creative production, game development capability and global delivery. We believe the investments we are making now will strengthen our competitive position and support sustainable long-term growth."

Enquiries

About Winking Studios Limited (AIM and SGX: WKS)

Headquartered in Singapore and dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and Singapore Exchange (Trading Code: WKS), Winking Studios Limited is one of the world's largest AAA game art outsourcing studios and an established game development company.

With over 25 years of experience and established track record, the Group provides end-to-end art outsourcing, game development services and other gaming services across various platforms for the global gaming industry via three business segments of Art Outsourcing, Game Development and Global Publishing & Other Services.

The Group has 14 studios across Taipei, Nanjing, Suzhou, Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai, Quebec and Kuala Lumpur with over 1,400 highly skilled employees serving a global customer base that includes 22 of the top 25 game publishers in the world.

For more information, please visit www.winkingworks.com

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended by virtue of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

CEO's Statement

1H2026 delivered strong revenue growth and continued strategic progress for Winking Studios. The Group's revenue increased by 21.1% to US$23.5 million (1H2025: US$19.4 million), including organic growth of 8.9%, driven by continued demand for our art outsourcing services. Adjusted EBITDA was US$1.2 million (1H2025: US$2.4 million), reflecting the deliberate investments in the Group's next phase of growth and seasonally softer first-quarter contribution from Mineloader.

According to recent industry reports[2], the gaming industry is increasingly consolidating around larger, integrated outsourcing partners, as developers and publishers look for high-quality external production capabilities across a greater proportion of the development lifecycle. Against this backdrop, we accelerated investment in two areas where we see significant opportunity. Following the acquisition of Ampera in April 2026, which established our first dedicated North American studio and direct operating presence in Western markets, we invested approximately US$0.4 million during the period under review to expand its team, capabilities and market presence. We also allocated approximately US$0.9 million of internal development resources to AI-enabled game development capabilities, enabling us to expand game development capacity more efficiently and respond to growing client interest. We continue to see limited impact from AI on our core art outsourcing business, where large-scale production, driven by consumer demands, remains highly dependent on human creativity, artistic judgement and quality control. These additional investments in Ampera and AI-enabled game development are intended to broaden our addressable market, strengthen our competitive position and support long-term, sustainable growth.

A global game services platform

Winking Studios provides end-to-end game services through three business segments: Art Outsourcing (c.85.0% of revenue), Game Development (c.14.9%) and Global Publishing & Other Services (c.<1%). The Group now operates through four complementary brands: Winkingworks, Mineloader, Vertic and Ampera. Mineloader, acquired in April 2025, expanded our scale and game development capabilities; Vertic, launched in July 2025, strengthened our high-end AAA art offering; and Ampera, acquired in April 2026, gives the Group direct access to Western customers and larger full-game development opportunities. Together, these businesses broaden the Group's capabilities across the game outsourcing value chain while retaining the cost and delivery advantages of our established Asian production base.

Strong demand for core art services

Art Outsourcing remained the Group's main growth engine in 1H2026, with segment revenue increasing by 25.4% to US$19.9 million (1H2025: US$15.9 million). Demand was particularly strong for our 3D art asset capabilities, supported by the expansion of our Southeast Asian production hub in FY2025 and the broader industry shift towards larger outsourcing partners.

Growth also benefited from the additional first-quarter contribution of Mineloader, acquired in April 2025, and from Vertic, which was launched in July 2025. Together they have strengthened the Group's ability to deliver high-end AAA work across its expanded studio network. Vertic made particularly encouraging progress during the period under review, with the cumulative number of AAA titles supported across the Group increasing to 142 by 30 June 2026 (31 December 2025: 117).

Our customer relationships remain a key strength. Revenue from follow-up projects with existing customers represented 37.4% of Group revenue in the period under review (1H2025: 38.8%), demonstrating the depth of our long-standing relationships with leading global developers and publishers. As at 30 June 2026, indicative bookings over the next 24 months stood at US$51.6 million, subject to final customer confirmation, and above both the June 2025 and December 2025 levels, supporting good visibility over future activity.

Building our Western presence 

Alongside organic growth, M&A remains a key pillar of our strategy. A major milestone in the period was the acquisition of Ampera, which gives Winking Studios its first dedicated North American studio and a direct operating presence in Western markets. The model combines local customer-facing and game development capabilities with the talent, scale and cost-efficiency of our established Asian production base.

The acquisition also strengthens our commercial leadership. Ampera founder Claude Bordeleau joined Winking Studios as Chief Revenue Officer, bringing more than two decades of experience in building and scaling game services businesses, including senior leadership experience at Keywords Studios. Claude is leading the Group's global commercial strategy, with a focus on deepening customer relationships, developing larger opportunities and supporting growth across Western markets.

During the period under review, Winking Studios invested approximately US$0.4 million to build Ampera's team, production infrastructure, technology platforms and market presence. Since the acquisition, we have seen encouraging growth in the number of larger, integrated opportunities entering the pipeline and have secured initial engagements with several high-profile customers. We are continuing to build the operational capacity required to pursue and deliver larger-scale full-game development engagements.

These opportunities typically carry longer sales cycles than traditional art outsourcing work, making the timing of conversion and revenue recognition less predictable. However, successful engagements can offer larger contract values, longer durations and higher margin potential. This is an important strategic step as Winking Studios develops into a more comprehensive partner capable of supporting increasingly complex, long-term game development programmes.

We continue to evaluate selective M&A opportunities that can add complementary capabilities, strengthen our geographic reach or accelerate our development as a more integrated global game services partner.

Favourable market dynamics

Industry forecasts support this direction. Global outsourced game development expenditure is expected to reach US$16.0 billion by 2030 (an increase of US$5.1 billion from US$10.9 billion), with one-stop game development companies expected to be a key driver of market growth[3]. Outsourcing is increasingly embedded in modern game production rather than treated as a cyclical decision, with developers and publishers looking to fewer, larger trusted partners able to provide both creative and game development capacity at scale[4].

Demand for outsourced game development services is also increasing, strengthening the opportunity for established art outsourcing providers such as Winking Studios to develop into more integrated, end-to-end partners. This trend is particularly relevant in Western markets and plays directly to the Group's combination of large-scale art production, growing game development capability and global delivery capacity.

United States revenue represented 13.3% of Group revenue in 1H2026. This remains a relatively modest contribution compared with the size of the market and underlines the scope to increase the Group's Western-market exposure as Ampera develops. Western markets have historically generated some of the Group's highest margins, strengthening the opportunity presented by combining direct local customer access with the scale and cost-efficiency of our Asian production platform.

Building AI-enabled game development capabilities

AI-assisted coding capabilities advanced rapidly during 1H2026 and are increasingly able to support game development workflows. At the same time, industry data indicates that customer attitudes towards AI are evolving from outright prohibition towards controlled use within development processes². During the period under view, Winking Studios allocated approximately US$0.9 million of internal development resources to AI-enabled workflows, game development capability and client use cases. The objective is to build game development capacity ahead of anticipated demand with lower incremental resource requirements than would be needed through traditional development methods alone.

We are already seeing encouraging early-stage commercial traction, including initial AI-enabled coding and game development projects. Revenue contribution remains modest at this stage, but these engagements provide early evidence of client demand. Over time, this capability can sit alongside our established art production platform and broaden the range of integrated services we can provide to customers.

AI-generated art assets remain a different proposition. Over the last three years, revenue generated from AI-created art assets has represented less than 1% of our art services revenue. Large-scale game art production continues to depend heavily on human creativity, artistic judgement and quality control, which remain core strengths of Winking Studios.

Outlook

Demand for our core gaming art outsourcing services remains robust, supported by long-term outsourcing trends and high levels of repeat business. Indicative 24-month bookings stood at US$51.6 million as at 30 June 2026, of which US$22.4 million is expected to be recognised in 2H2026, and we continue to expect revenue in 2H2026 to exceed that reported in 1H2026.

As set out in our 1H2026 trading update, the second half will be a period of continued and deliberate investment in our two strategic initiatives. Whilst this investment will impact short term profitability, it is designed to expand the Group's addressable market, strengthen its competitive edge and support future revenue growth. 

In AI-enabled game development, our first co-development projects are small in scale, but are significant as lighthouse projects are proofs that the capability is both deliverable and contractible whilst providing an important foundation for future commercial scaling. This supports our ambition to build a second growth curve in AI-native, one-stop outsourced development, where AI's leverage allows a company to build on world-class art to add engineering and full-game capability at a fraction of the traditional cost.

Through Ampera, we are pairing a Western front office with our efficient Asian production base and we have already been invited to bid on multiple large projects, validating this positioning. Significantly larger projects typically carry longer sales cycles, and as a result, contract awards are now anticipated to fall in 2027.

Both investment programmes began part-way through the first half, so the second half will reflect a fuller period of the associated cost base and foregone development capacity. Having reviewed their scale and phasing, the Board now expects the Group to report a modest Adjusted EBITDA loss for FY2026. This reflects the decision to accelerate investment in these opportunities, which the Board believes have the potential to create new revenue streams, strengthen the Group's competitive position and deliver more significant long-term returns.

Alongside this, we are also continuing to evaluate acquisition opportunities in a disciplined manner, focusing on targets offering the strongest strategic synergies with our existing businesses

We are building, from the scale and quality of our art production platform, a genuinely end-to-end game development partner; one that is able to serve customers across the full development lifecycle, from world-class art to AI-enabled engineering, delivered globally. The investments we are making today are the foundation of that ambition, and we are making them with discipline, conviction and a clear view of the long-term value they will create.

Johnny Jan

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (Founder)

14 August 2026

CFO's Review

Revenue

As one of the leading global providers of game art outsourcing and development services, Winking Studios provides end-to-end art outsourcing, game development services and other gaming services across various platforms for the global gaming industry via our three business segments of Art Outsourcing, Game Development and Global Publishing & Other Services.

In 1H2026, the Group posted strong revenue growth of 21.1% to US$23.5 million, as compared to 1H2025's revenue of US$19.4 million, with organic revenue increasing by 8.9% in 1H2026. This robust performance was underpinned by the continued strong performance of the Group's Art Outsourcing segment.

Business Segment Review

Art Outsourcing

This business segment is involved in the creation and development of digital art assets. The Group has the capabilities to provide a wide range of design services including 2D concept art, 3D modelling, 2D animation, 3D animation and visual effects, which includes environment design and game character design.

Game art production remains highly dependent on human creativity, artistic judgement and quality control, areas where Winking Studios continues to excel. Historically, this business segment has contributed the majority of the Group's revenue. In 1H2026, it accounted for 85.0% of the Group's overall revenue (1H2025: 82.1%). Revenue from this business segment increased by 25.4% or US$4.0 million, to US$19.9 million (1H2025: US$15.9 million), mainly due to the additional first-quarter contribution of Mineloader (which was acquired in April 2025) and the full six-month contribution of Vertic Studios (which was established in July 2025).

Game Development

This business segment provides programming, game development, design and script writing services.

In 1H2026, this business segment contributed 14.9% of the Group's overall revenue (1H2025: 17.6%), representing a revenue growth of 2.3% or US$0.1 million to US$3.5 million (1H2025: US$3.4 million), driven by orders from new customers .

Global Publishing and Other Services

This business segment is involved in the release of game products produced by the Group as well as third party game developers on global game platforms such as PlayStation, Switch and Steam. It is also involved in the sale of the Group's in-house developed video game products and peripheral gaming products.

In 1H2026, this business segment contributed revenue of US$0.04 million or 0.1% of the Group's overall revenue in 1H2026, which remained the smallest revenue contributor of the Group (1H2025: US$0.1 million).

Geographical Segment Review

Serving a global customer base that includes 22 of the top 25 game publishers in the world, the Group has made good progress over the years to diversify our revenue base geographically; while Mainland China and Hong Kong remain key markets, revenue contributions from other regions have expanded. The following table details the revenue breakdown geographically in 1H2026 and 1H2025:

Revenue from Mainland China and Hong Kong is contributed by two segments, one is the customers from Mainland China and Hong Kong and the other is from Mainland China and Hong Kong (non-China) that comprises (i) subsidiaries located in Mainland China and Hong Kong owned by European and American customers and (ii) overseas subsidiaries of Mainland China and Hong Kong customers. 

In 1H2026, Chinese customers from Mainland China and Hong Kong accounted for 29.4% (1H2025: 22.8%) of the Group's total revenue, while Mainland China and Hong Kong (non-China) accounted for 11.2% (1H2025: 16.3%) of the Group's total revenue. On a combined basis, Mainland China and Hong Kong accounted for 40.6% (1H2025: 39.1%) of the Group's total revenue.

The Group continues to make good progress with our revenue diversification strategy, which saw Japan delivering strong revenue growth in 1H2026 as compared to 1H2025.

Gross profit and margin

While the Group posted revenue growth of 21.1% in 1H2026, gross margin dipped to 24.0% in 1H2026 (1H2025: 30.2%) mainly due to the three main factors as follows:

On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of Mineloader's consolidation in 1Q2026, as well as the acquisition of and further investment in Ampera and the AI-related investment, the Group's underlying gross profit margin would have remained relatively stable at 30.1% in 1H2026, as compared to 30.2% in 1H2025.

Operating costs

The Group's distribution and marketing expenses rose 52.3% to US$1.6 million in 1H2026 (1H2025: US$1.1 million), which was mainly due to higher investments in sales, marketing and promotional activities of approximately US$0.4 million by the newly-established Vertic and newly-acquired Ampera businesses to support their commercial and market expansion.

Administrative expenses increased by US$1.7 million, or 40.4%, to US$6.1 million in 1H2026 (1H2025: US$4.3 million), reflecting the planned scaling of our business platform to support recent acquisitions and future growth initiatives. The key drivers of the increase in administrative expenses in 1H2026 were as follows:

Alternative performance measures (APMs)

The Group also reports on a number of APMs to showcase the financial performance of the Group, which are not standard accounting measures defined by the International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). The Directors believe that these measures provide valuable additional financial information for users to understand the fundamental transactional performance of the Group. In particular, APMs are used to provide the users of the accounts a clearer understanding of the Group's underlying profitability over a period of time.

EBITDA / Adjusted EBITDA

While revenue grew by 21.1% in 1H2026, adjusted EBITDA declined due to the consolidation of Mineloader with its seasonally softer 1Q2026 performance, AI investment to enhance game development capabilities, and upfront costs of the Group's North America expansion strategy, which was highlighted in the gross profit commentary in this results announcement.

The Group's Adjusted EBITDA for the period, calculated as set out below, decreased US$1.2 million or 49.2% to US$1.2 million, as compared to US$2.4 million in 1H2025, which also included adjustments for one-off and other non-cash items.

n.m denotes not meaningful

Statutory Result

The Group recorded a net loss of US$2.5 million in 1H2026 (1H2025: net profit of US$0.9 million). In addition to the operating factors described above, the statutory result reflects US$2.3 million of items excluded from the Group's adjusted measures: share-based compensation expenses of US$0.7 million, costs of acquisition and integration of US$0.6 million, and foreign exchange losses of US$0.6 million as well as amortisation of acquisition-related intangible assets of US$0.4 million.

Cash flow

Net cash used in operating activities was US$5.3 million in 1H2026, as compared to US$0.6 million generated in 1H2025, which was mainly due to the following:

Net cash used in investing activities decreased significantly by US$12.4 million from US$13.5 million in 1H2025 to US$1.1 million in 1H2026, mainly due to the absence of large acquisition-related payments, as these were substantially completed in the corresponding period last year.

Net cash generated by financing activities totalled US$2.7 million in 1H2026 (1H2025: outflow of US$0.8 million), which was primarily driven by US$4.0 million in new bank borrowings undertaken to establish credit facilities and strengthen the Group's long-term banking relationships. 

The Group's current assets decreased by US$1.2 million or 2.7% to US$41.7 million as at 30 June 2026, as compared to US$42.9 million as at 31 December 2025. The key components of the Group's current assets comprise cash and cash equivalents, trade and other receivables and contract assets. Cash and cash equivalents totalled US$23.2 million as at 30 June 2026, a decrease of US$4.2 million or 15.3%, as compared to US$27.4 million as at 31 December 2025, which was mainly due to additional cash outflows of US$3.2 million for the payment of employee wages and bonuses, reflecting the significant increase in headcount from over 800 employees as at the end of 2024 to more than 1,400 employees as at the end of 2025. Trade and other receivables remained relatively stable at US$9.3 million as at 30 June 2026. Contract assets increased by US$2.9 million or 47.1% from US$6.2 million as at 31 December 2025 to US$9.1 million as at 30 June 2026, primarily driven by increase of work completed but not yet billed, reflecting the timing difference between revenue recognition and customer invoicing. Almost 100% of the contract assets from the previous period's output were converted into trade receivables or cash collections. 

As at 30 June 2026, the Group's non-current assets increased by US$2.0 million or 7.8% to US$28.0 million as at 30 June 2026, as compared to US$26.0 million as at 31 December 2025. The key component of the Group's non-current assets comprise intangible assets, which increased by US$2.1 million or 12.1% from US$17.2 million as at 31 December 2025 to US$19.3 million as at 30 June 2026, primarily due to the recognition of US$2.2 million in goodwill associated with the acquisition of Ampera.

As at 30 June 2026, the Group's current liabilities increased by US$0.9 million or 9.4% to US$11.0 million, as compared to US$10.1 million as at 31 December 2025. The key components of the Group's current liabilities comprise trade and other payables and short-term borrowings. Trade and Other Payables decreased by US$3.0 million or 37.7% to US$4.9 million, as compared to US$7.9 million, mainly due to the payment of accrued employees' bonuses and wages, primarily reflecting the significant increase in headcount from over 800 employees as at the end of 2024 to more than 1,400 personnel as at the end of 2025. Short-term borrowings increased by US$4.0 million during 1H2026 (1H2025: Nil), which was primarily undertaken to establish credit facilities with the bank, strengthening the Group's long-term banking relationship and provide access to future financing.

As at 30 June 2026, the Group's non-current liabilities decreased by US$0.5 million or 8.9% to US$5.3 million, as compared to US$5.8 million as at 31 December 2025. The key components of the Group's non-current liabilities comprise deferred income tax liabilities and other non-current liabilities, which remained relatively stable at US$3.0 million and US$1.6 million respectively as at 30 June 2026.

As at 30 June 2026, the Group's net asset value per ordinary share is US$12.11 cents (as at 31 December 2025: US$12.00 cents).

Oliver Yen

Finance Director and Group Chief Financial Officer

14 August 2026