Factbox: Polish video game productions that have hit the jackpot

11 Bit Studios SA

23/01/2020 13:35

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Poland's booming video game and esports
market was worth $664 million in 2019, according to PwC, and is
projected to climb to nearly $850 million over the next four
years.
    The latest highly anticipated addition to the roster will be
"Cyberpunk 2077" by CD Projekt  CDR.WA , scheduled for release
on Sept. 17.
       
    Following are some of the biggest earning video games to
come out of the country in recent years. 
        
    THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT (2015), CD PROJEKT 
    CD Projekt, the biggest name in the Polish industry, has
sold over 40 million copies of its most popular medieval
fantasy, The Witcher, which is based on a series of books by
Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. A TV adaption is also Netflix's
highest rated original series, according to IMDb.  
    The third part of the adventure game trilogy accounts for
around half of the total sales and had a budget of 306 million
zlotys ($80.09 million). Gross revenue from the instalment
amounted to more than 1 billion zlotys by November 2017, the
most recent data the company would share. 
    CD Projekt, which specialises in role-playing games, was
founded in 1994. Its third-quarter revenue stood at 92.9 million
zlotys.  
    
    THIS WAR OF MINE (2014), 11 BIT STUDIOS  11B.WA 
    The war survival game based on the siege of Sarajevo had
sold more than 4.5 million copies by September 2019, earning
around 90 million zlotys. The game's budget was almost 2 million
zlotys.
    
    FROSTPUNK (2018), 11 BIT STUDIOS 
    Revenue from sales and add-ons to the society survival game
on the Steam platform between its Oct. 1, 2018 launch and the
end of September 2019 reached about 80 million zlotys, against a
production budget of around 10 million zlotys.
    11 Bit Studios, which develops independent, or so-called
indie games, was founded in 2009. Its third-quarter revenue
reached 18.7 million zlotys.
    
    DYING LIGHT (2015), TECHLAND 
    The open world first-person survival horror was played by
more than 18 million people worldwide between its January 2015
premiere and the end of 2019. The company, which was founded in
1991, did not provide revenue and budget data for the game, nor
for its third-quarter. 
    
    CAR MECHANIC SIMULATOR (2018), PLAYWAY  PLWP.WA 
    The budget for the simulation video game depicting the work
of an auto mechanic was about 0.5 million zlotys and the number
of downloads of the game had exceeded 15.8 million by June 2019.
    PlayWay was founded in 2011. It reported third-quarter
revenue of 36.9 million zlotys.
    
    SNIPER: GHOST WARRIOR 3 (2017), CI GAMES  CIG.WA  
    The tactical shooter video game, CI Games' biggest seller,
consists of four volumes to date. The best-selling third
instalment had sold more than 1.3 million copies, both physical
and digital, by the end of 2018. Total revenues and the final
budget of the game, originally estimated at around 40 million
zlotys, could not be confirmed.
    CI Games was founded in 2002. Its third-quarter revenue was
4.4 million zlotys.

    ($1 = 3.8208 zlotys)

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FOCUS - From Communist-era roots to cash cows: Poland's gaming
industry takes on the world     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N29Q4FE
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 (Reporting by Anna Banacka; Additional reporting by Enrico
Sciacovelli;
Editing by Anna Pruchnicka, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((Anna.banacka@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 778 5110;))