Kuju Results Show Small Loss, Financial Improvement

Godalming, UK-headquartered developer Kuju Entertainment, best known for its work on GameCube title Battalion Wars for Nintendo, has announced its yearly results for the period ending March 31st, 2005, and these have shown a small loss after tax of £102,000 ($180,000). Revenue for the firm was up 58% to £7,693,000 ($13.6 million) in the same period. This result compares favorably to 2004's loss of £1,410,000 ($2,5 million), and the improvement comes in a period of continuing expansion for the company. Kuju now has UK-based development studios in London, Surrey, Brighton, Sheffield, and a separate mobile development division - publishing arm Kuju Wireless has been spun off to form its own company. Listed highlights for the firm include the signing of EyeToy: Play 3 at Kuju's Brighton studio, the completion of Battalion Wars at the London studio, the signing of a recently mentioned new PC title, Rail Simulator, with Electronic Arts, being funded in conjunction with Fund4Games, and an expansion of the Sheffield studio, as well as a new Ubisoft-funded development project at the Surrey studio. However, in discussing prospects, Kuju expects to be impacted by the recent bankruptcy of publisher Hip Interactive, for which the company was developing George Romero's City of the Dead, noting: "At this point we can report that whilst there is interest in the title from a number of parties, there is no certainty that the product will be successfully placed." In addition, the Rail Simulator project in association with EA Partners is structured to enable the company to receive increased royalties per copy sold, but "will impact the bottom line during the development stages." This is due to the fact that Kuju is part-funding development of the game, albeit with the advantage of IP ownership and great rewards when completed.