logo image
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • SlatorCon Remote May 2021
    • Localizing at Scale for International Growth
    • Design Thinking May 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs
MENU
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • SlatorCon Remote May 2021
    • Localizing at Scale for International Growth
    • Design Thinking May 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs

Register Before April 15th for SlatorCon Remote and Save 15%!

  • Slator Market Intelligence
  • Slator Advertising Services
  • Slator Advisory
  • Login
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Advertisement
Video Game Specialist Keywords Posts 30% Top Line Growth in 2019, Half of it Organic

1 year ago

January 30, 2020

Video Game Specialist Keywords Posts 30% Top Line Growth in 2019, Half of it Organic

Financial Results ·

by Esther Bond

On January 30, 2020

1 year ago
Financial Results ·

by Esther Bond

On January 30, 2020

Video Game Specialist Keywords Posts 30% Top Line Growth in 2019, Half of it Organic

On January 30, 2020, UK-listed video game specialist Keywords Studios released a trading update for the year ended December 31, 2019. Keywords said it was expecting full-year revenues to come in at around EUR 326m (USD 366m), although its results will be formally announced at the end of March 2020.

Irish-headquartered Keywords provides a range of gaming-related services including but not limited to game localization. Its two largest divisions, Functional Testing and Game Development, were also the highest-growth service lines over the year. 

Inclusive of acquisitions, Keywords’ top-line grew around 30%, with organic growth contributing around half of this, Keywords said in the update.

Advertisement

Adjusted EBITDA was also up, around 13%, to nearly EUR 50m (USD 55m) in 2019. Revenue growth was slightly ahead of profit growth, however, as profits were weighed down by a number of factors including an “under-performing, fixed price contract” that Keywords had carried over from an acquired business. Other headwinds for profits included Keywords’ continued investment and “the effect of incorporating a number of early stage technology businesses acquired in 2018.”

Slator 2020 Language Industry Market Report

Data and Research, Slator reports
55 pages. Total market size, biz dev and sales insights, TMS & MT review, buyer segment analysis, M&A, Covid impact & outlook.
$480 BUY NOW

Quoted in the trading update, Keywords’ CEO Andrew Day characterized 2019 as being “a relatively light year for video games” as the industry prepares for a new game development cycle. With next-generation releases of Xbox and Playstation planned for 2020, development demand for the current generation of consoles ebbed, which impacted on revenues across some of Keywords’ seven divisions.

Other divisions were boosted by fresh demand ahead of the upcoming Xbox and Playstation launches. CEO Day also identified the emergence of new game streaming platforms and an “ongoing trend towards external development,” as likely to drive demand.

Making up around a quarter of Keywords’ total revenues, Localization naturally received less air-time in the trading update than Keywords’ larger divisions. Aside from Day’s observation that Keywords had added “machine translation [MT] and crowd sourcing technology to our Localisation offering,” little was made of the fact Keywords acquired two localization companies, including machine translation provider KantanMT, in 2019.

There was no mention of Keywords’ expansion into media localization (SlatorPro) nor its acquisition of German media localizer TV Synchron in 2019.   

Slator 2019 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Data and Research, Slator reports
34-page report. Language industry M&A and startup funding. Transaction valuations, trade sales, financial backing, private equity influence, main rationale, seller verticals, geographical analysis, startup funding analysis.
$450 BUY NOW

Keywords is likely to remain acquisitive and, according to Day, “we fully expect to make a number of selective acquisitions […] and we are managing a strong acquisition pipeline as we enter 2020.”

Following the trading update, shares in Keywords Studios (KWS:L) fell around 6.4% from market open as at press time.

TAGS

Andrew Daygame developmentgame localizationgamingKantanMTKeywords StudiosMicrosoftPlayStationSonyTVS SynchronXbox
SHARE
Esther Bond

By Esther Bond

Research Director at Slator. Localization enthusiast, linguist and inquisitor. London native.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SLATOR WEEKLY

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

SUBSCRIBE

SlatorSweepSlatorPro
ResearchRFP CENTER

PUBLISH

PRESS RELEASEDIRECTORY LISTING
JOB ADEVENT LISTING

Bespoke advisory including speaking, briefings and M&A

SLATOR ADVISORY
Advertisement

Featured Reports

See all
Pro Guide: Translation Pricing and Procurement

Pro Guide: Translation Pricing and Procurement

by Slator

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

by Slator

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

by Slator

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

by Slator

Press Releases

See all
LocHub Announces QA Localization Solution For Multilingual Content Publishing Processes

LocHub Announces QA Localization Solution For Multilingual Content Publishing Processes

by Xillio

Former TrustPoint Translations CEO Joins XTRF Advisory Board

Former TrustPoint Translations CEO Joins XTRF Advisory Board

by XTRF

Global Ready Conference Lineup Announced

Global Ready Conference Lineup Announced

by Smartling

Upcoming Events

See All
  1. Smartling - Global Ready Conference 2021

    Global Ready Conference

    by Smartling

    · April 14

    When you can't traverse the world, let the world come to you. Join our annual global event from home.

    More info FREE

Featured Companies

See all
Sunyu Transphere

Sunyu Transphere

Text United

Text United

Memsource

Memsource

Wordbank

Wordbank

Protranslating

Protranslating

SeproTec

SeproTec

Versacom

Versacom

Smartling

Smartling

XTM International

XTM International

Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders

STAR Group

STAR Group

memoQ Translation Technologies

memoQ Translation Technologies

Advertisement

Popular articles

Google Translate Not Ready for Use in Medical Emergencies But Improving Fast — Study

Google Translate Not Ready for Use in Medical Emergencies But Improving Fast — Study

by Seyma Albarino

The Slator 2021 Language Service Provider Index

The Slator 2021 Language Service Provider Index

by Slator

DeepL Adds 13 European Languages as Traffic Continues to Surge

DeepL Adds 13 European Languages as Traffic Continues to Surge

by Marion Marking

SlatorPod: The Weekly Language Industry Podcast

connect with us

footer logo

Slator makes business sense of the language services and technology market.

Our Company

  • Support
  • About us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to the Slator Weekly

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

© 2021 Slator. All rights reserved.

Sign up to the Slator Weekly

Join over 13,800 subscribers and get the latest language industry intelligence every Friday

Your information will never be shared with third parties. No Spam.