Planet Coaster devs Frontier double down on management sims as Warhammer RTS Realms of Ruin suffers slow sales
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 in management sim games, following weak sales for recent Warhammer RTS Realms of Ruin and a lack of success in attempting to break into other genres.
The Cambridge-based developers’ latest business update acknowledged that “sales to date have been lower than expected” for Realms of Ruin. The spiritual successor to Warhammer 40k classic Dawn of War 2, and which serves as the first comparable RTS for Warhammer’s modern fantasy series Age of Sigmar, released to lukewarm reviews earlier 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.
This all comes in the wake of a rocky couple of years for the company, including the community controversy around Elite Dangerous expansion Odyssey and player backlash to what was initially read as a final update to F1 Manager 2022, leading the game’s team to scramble to reassure players that ongoing updates would still be coming.
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 that Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, Jurassic World Evolution and Jurassic World Evolution 2 had 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 and Elite Dangerous.
That renewed focus will include the launch of a new management game in each of its 2025, 2026 and 2027 financial years. The hope is that the decision helps Frontier to recover from ailing financials that are expected to see them record a loss of $9 million during 2023-2024 as the result of Realms of Ruin’s flagging sales. The company still expects to break even in their 2025 financial year despite the revised figures for this year. Founder and president David Braben described 2023 as “turbulent and difficult year for Frontier”.
"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."
Frontier recently confirmed staff layoffs amid 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 behind Deliver Us Mars, and Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, among other notable gems.