Publishers also behind Elite Dangerous and F1 Manager admit that their efforts to move into other genres haven’t been as successful as hoped
Frontier Developments are doubling down on their success inmanagement sim games, following weak sales for recentWarhammer RTS Realms of Ruinand a lack of success in attempting to break into other genres.
The Cambridge-based developers’latest business updateacknowledged that “sales to date have been lower than expected” for Realms of Ruin. The spiritual successor to Warhammer 40k classicDawn of War 2, and which serves as the first comparable RTS for Warhammer’s modern fantasy series Age of Sigmar, released tolukewarm reviewsearlier this month. The update expressed hope that sales would “build over time” for the game, helped by post-release content and paid DLC.
On top of Realms of Ruin’s struggles, Frontier admitted that their longer-term efforts over the last five years to expand into new game genres by serving as a publisher for other devs’ third-party games and launching games into “adjacent genres” had not been as successful as planned.
As such, the publishers will go back to what they’re best at: what they call “creative management simulation” games, but we just call management sims. Contrasting thatPlanet Coaster,Planet Zoo,Jurassic World EvolutionandJurassic World Evolution 2had collectively made over $500 million and became profitable within a month of release, Frontier said they would “refocus” on creative management simulation games while continuing to support their other games - including Realms of Ruin, as well as F1 Manager andElite Dangerous.
“I am pleased to confirm a third creative management simulation (CMS) game on our development roadmap,” said Frontier CEO Jonny Watts. “I am confident that our renewed focus on CMS will return Frontier back to profitability, deliver stimulating games to our players, and provide rewarding opportunities for our people. I’d like to thank our people and our shareholders for their patience and support as we go through a challenging period of change.”
Frontierrecently confirmed staff layoffsamid an “organisational review” required to cut costs by up to 20%. Third-party publishing arm Frontier Foundry was also shuttered in June, closing the label behindDeliver Us Mars, andWarhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, among other notable gems.
