VD-intervju med Beyond Frames

Beyond Frames är ett dataspelsföretag som under andra kvartalet lyckades uppvisa ett av de bästa kvartalen i företagets historia. För att få en uppdatering kring hur det går för företaget har vi på TradeVenue fått möjlighet att intervjua bolagets VD, Ace St. Germain. Du finner den nedan.

Mot bakgrund av att Ace inte pratar svenska genomfördes intervjun på engelska. 

Question 1
How would you like to summarize the first half of the year and what are your views on the rest of 2024?

The first half of the year has been defined by the re-launch of Ghosts of Tabor onto the main Meta Quest Store and the ongoing development of our internal studio titles. Both have contributed significant revenues to the company, Tabor through direct-to-consumer revenues, and the internal projects through the collection of paid milestones by our publishing and distribution partners. The remainder of 2024 feels exceptionally positive given the healthy recurring revenues we’re seeing from our catalog, the launch of Cortopia’s Escaping Wonderland, and the open Alpha launch of our VR survival crafting publishing title, GRIM.

Question 2
Ghost of Tabor has been a significant growth driver for Beyond Frames. What do you think is the reason for the game's popularity?

Ghosts of Tabor did a lot of things right. At the time of launch, there were no other extraction shooters in VR, but there was plenty of pent-up demand among players. That said, the studio, Combat Waffle, chose to build the game alongside their community, which built a sizeable fanbase who were invested and passionate about promoting the title at launch. They did a lot of work to continue fostering this community and its leaders to make sure it remained vibrant, and as long as the community was active, it would continue to grow and promote, creating a virtuous cycle of discovery that continues to power the game today.

This is all observable in hindsight and difficult to replicate, but the data we’re getting from the game being in ongoing live service helps us get closer to another hit than a miss.

Question 3
Is there anything specific you look for when investing in various projects?

There are many factors both generic and specific. An example of a generic variable is the total addressable market for the genre. A specific variable example would be the design theory and its native-ness to the VR platform. We balance all these factors, create a P&L, weigh the P&L results against the financial needs of a project, then make a final call on whether or not the ROI is sound.

Question 4
Could you tell us a bit more about the title ‘Escaping Wonderland’ which is expected to be released in 2024?

Escaping Wonderland takes place in Cortopia’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which was first seen in our award-winning title, Down the Rabbit Hole. Escaping Wonderland is not a direct sequel, so players don’t need to play Down the Rabbit Hole to understand and enjoy Escaping Wonderland. The game is a puzzle adventure played in the style of a diorama where the player controls our protagonist, Molly, as well as interacts with the world with their won hands to help solve puzzles alongside their hero. It’s a game full of whimsy and thoughtful challenges with an emotional narrative we think will hit home with a lot of players.

From a business perspective, Down the Rabbit Hole was a financial success, returning over 400% ROI since its launch. We believe Escaping Wonderland can do just as well if not better.

 Question 5
What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming 12-month period?

The launch of our next few games and the announcements of the games still under NDA that are currently in development. I think these titles will really excite the players and, in turn, the market.

Question 6
Do you have any new information to tell us about the other titles in production?

Unfortunately, not yet. We really want to let the cat out of the bag, but the time isn’t right. We hope to say more by the end of this year though.