Devolver Digital Inc on Thursday reported a sharply narrowed annual loss as it expects to return to an annual profit amid the release of several new games.

The Austin, Texas-based video game publisher said pretax loss narrowed to $11.7 million in 2023 from $98.8 million in 2022.

The company emphasised that it returned to positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the second half of 2023.

Revenue declined 46% to $92.4 million in 2023 from $134.6 million in 2022. Chief Executive Officer Harry Miller called 2023 a ‘rebuild year’ with long-term decisions.

Pertinently, total administrative costs narrowed to $38.5 million from $121.1 million. This was mostly due to a $70.0 million impairment Devolver Digital had reported for 2022, which did not repeat in 2023.

Employee costs increased 23% to $17.5 million from $14.2 million.

Looking ahead, the company expects to release 10 new titles during 2024, noting that ‘strength’ during 2023 continued into the first quarter of 2024.

CEO Miller said: ‘We have a busy and exciting release schedule of new titles such as Pepper Grinder, The Plucky Squire, Anger Foot and Neva. Back catalogue sales are expected to continue to benefit from momentum from Cult of the Lamb and Inscryption which have continued to perform strongly up to the end of 1Q 2024 and help to offset the ongoing trend of lower revenues from subscription deals in 2023.’

He added that the company is confident in returning to profitable growth in 2024 and continuing into 2025.

Devolver Digital shares rose 0.4% to 21.59 pence each on Thursday morning in London.

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