26th January 2015
Frontier Developments plc
New Coaster Park Tycoon® Game and Operations Update
Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV, “Frontier”, the “Group”), a leading developer of video games, announces the start of development of a self-published game called Coaster Park Tycoon. This will run as a second franchise alongside continued development of its existing self-published Elite: Dangerous title, and marks the next stage in Frontier’s transition towards increasing its proportion of self-published revenue.
Coaster Park Tycoon
Frontier became the acknowledged leading developer of Tycoon games for its work on the RollerCoaster Tycoon® franchise, particularly its development of 2004’s c.10M unit-selling PC game RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 which is still considered the benchmark of the Tycoon genre, more than ten years after its release in 2004.
Coaster Park Tycoon, scheduled for 2016 release on PC, is intended to raise that benchmark for ‘Tycoon’ gameplay even further by combining accessible creative features with a sophisticated simulation.
Operations Update
With its business emphasis now on two major self-published franchises, Elite: Dangerous and Coaster Park Tycoon, Frontier is re-focusing its development activities in Cambridge where the expertise in these franchises lies. Development roles are being moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Cambridge, and the overall staffing mix will be changed to match the needs of these two projects. 15 content creation roles have been made redundant in Cambridge (from 281 total headcount), while Frontier continues to recruit in areas such as game and technology programming, server and web front end development.
Jonny Watts, Chief Creative Officer of Frontier Developments, said:
“Coaster Park games appeal to a great many people, as proven by RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. It is a field for which Frontier has unparalleled expertise and immense passion, and one to which we have long wanted to make a ‘no-holds-barred’ return. We want Coaster Park Tycoon to be another major step forward for the simulation genre, and sit alongside Elite: Dangerous as a second major self-published franchise.”
Enquiries:
Frontier Developments |
+44 (0)1223 394 300 |
David Braben, CEO David Walsh, COO Jonny Watts, CCO Neil Armstrong, CFO |
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Canaccord Genuity |
+44 (0) 207 523 8000 |
Simon Bridges/Cameron Duncan |
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Finncap |
+44 (0) 207 220 0506 |
Charlotte Stranner |
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Tulchan Communications |
+44 (0) 207 353 4200 |
James Macey White / Tom Buchanan |
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Coaster Park Tycoon is a registered trademark of Frontier Developments plc. All rights reserved. Other trademarks are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.
About Frontier Developments plc
Frontier Developments plc, listed on the AIM stock market (AIM: FDEV), is a leading independent game developer founded in 1994 by David Braben, co-author of the seminal ‘Elite’ game. Based in Cambridge, UK, Frontier uses its proprietary ‘Cobra’ game development technology to create innovative games across videogame consoles, computers, smartphones and tablets.
The studio released Zoo Tycoon as a launch title for Microsoft’s Xbox One console in 2013 Tales from Deep Space for Amazon in 2014. It released the self-published Elite: Dangerous in December 2014, and Microsoft will release ScreamRide, an innovative creation and destruction game based around rollercoasters, in March 2015.
Important Note
The information contained in this announcement about the sales of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 relates solely to this game and does not constitute a sales estimate or financial forecast in respect of the Group or any guidance as to the likely future profits of the Group.
