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Following a stellar four months in which its share price has tripled, Australian video game developer PlaySide (ASX: PLY) has signed one of its most high-profile contracts to date by entering into a co-development services agreement with Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI).
The deal will see PlaySide work with Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s largest video game companies, on a work-for-hire basis for 10 months, providing production, engineering and user interface services.
The Australian developer, known for its self-published video games and games developed in collaboration with studios such as Disney, Pixar, and Nickelodeon, says the agreement reflects its strategy to target larger contracts with AAA studios.
Activision Blizzard is one of the word’s most successful video game developers, and is behind titles including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Candy Crush.
The US-based company recently announced it would be purchased by software giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) for USD$68.7 billion (AUD$96 billion) - the most expensive acquisition in the industry’s history.
“The company is delighted to secure this contract with Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s largest game developers and publishers. Their portfolio of titles is a collection of some of the most prominent titles in the industry,” PlaySide CEO Gerry Sakkas said.
“PlaySide is very excited to be working with Activision Blizzard showcasing our AAA game development capabilities and this agreement is further recognition of the progress the company has made on the global stage.”
The deal is the latest in a string of major announcements from PlaySide, which has generated considerable market attention in recent months.
The video game developer has seen its share price rise by more than 230 per cent since October last year after announcing a series of collaboration deals and its entrance into the buzzing Web 3.0 space.
That rise has continued today on the back of the announcement, with shares up by more than 5 per cent to $1.27 per share - representing a market cap increase of about $10 million.
Some of these most recent deals include a co-development agreement with US gaming influencer and content creation organisation One True King, a ‘landmark’ work-for-hire development agreement with 2K Games and the $2.25 million acquisition of the Dumb Ways To Die gaming franchise.
PlaySide’s momentum is also backed by a recently completed $28 million raise - with proceeds going toward making new original titles and license opportunities, as well as further scaling of its work-for-hire business model.
The company also earned $8.3 million in revenue this week from the sale of Dumb Ways To Die-branded non-fungible tokens (NFT) called ‘BEANS’.
That push into the Web 3.0 space forms part of PlaySide’s metaverse roadmap, demonstrating its “ability to stay at the forefront of developing technology trends” according to Sakkas.
However, one day after announcing it sold 7,777 BEANS, PlaySide updated the market on the Web 3.0 project, alerting shareholders to a technical issue with the NFTs. PlaySide said this was quickly corrected, but the fumble resulted in the company incurring $500,000 in costs.
Most of the damage from this event was done to PLY’s share price which dipped by around 8 per cent, but has mostly been recovered following today’s Activision Blizzard announcement.
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