Snail, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results

CULVER CITY, Calif., Dec. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Snail, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNAL) (“Snail” or “the Company”), a leading, global independent developer and publisher of interactive digital entertainment, today announced third quarter 2022 financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. These third quarter results are prior to the exchange of stock and reflect the activities of Snail Games USA Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Jim Tsai, Chief Executive Officer of Snail, commented: “We are thrilled to share our first earnings report as a public company. Our goal of creating immersive gaming experiences and products will be supported by our access to the capital markets. We look forward to continuing to execute against our product roadmap and provide high-end entertainment experiences for consumers around the world.”

Third Quarter 2022 and Subsequent Business Highlights

• ARK: Survival Evolved. In the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, ARK: Survival Evolved averaged a total of 328,583 daily active users (“DAUs”) versus 221,336 DAUs in the prior year period.

  • 4.4x growth in new install for the third quarter 2022 vs. third quarter 2021; 6.4M vs. 1.2M, respectively. Growth is largely due to Epic Games’ Free Week.

  • Units sold sustained for the third quarter 2022 compared to same period last year; 1.1M vs. 1.2M, respectively. Units sold includes game and DLCs.

  • Through September 30, 2022, total playtime amounts to 2.9 billion hours.

• IPO. On November 9, 2022, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”), in which it issued and sold 3,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $5.00 per share for gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $15.0 million. Concurrently with the IPO, the stockholders of Snail Games USA collectively exchanged 500,000 shares of Snail Games USA common stock for 6,251,420 shares of Class A common stock and 28,748,580 shares of Class B common stock of Snail, Inc.

• Share Repurchase Program. On November 10, 2022, the Company’s board of directors approved and established a new share repurchase program (the “Share Repurchase Program”) to reacquire shares of Snail, Inc.’s Class A common stock. The maximum aggregate value of the shares repurchased shall not exceed $5.0 million, and there is no fixed expiration date on the Share Repurchase Program. The exact number of shares of Class A common stock and timing and method of the repurchase are at the discretion of the CEO, CFO and Treasurer. As of December 13, 2022, 1,090,877 shares of Class A common stock were repurchased pursuant to the Share Repurchase Program and the average price paid per share was $2.98.

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Third Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights

• Revenue decreased by 36.1% to $15.6 million for third quarter of 2022 from $24.4 million over the same period in the prior year primarily as a result of a decrease in ARK units sold. ARK related revenues decreased by $8.5 million attributable to the age of the game and sales normalizing in 2022 after the initial release of Genesis II in June 2021. One off payments and revenue recognized for previous contract payments were the cause of $3.3 million of the $8.5 million decrease in ARK revenue, with reduced sales of ARK and ARK mobile responsible for the remaining $5.2 million decrease.

• Net loss for the third quarter of 2022 was $1.5 million compared to net income of $3.8 million in the prior year period due to the reduced sales of ARK, static licensing fees, and increased general and administrative costs.

• Bookings for the three months ended September 30, 2022, decreased by $6.9 million, or 37.9%, to $11.3 million, compared to the prior year period, primarily as a result of a decline in ARK-related revenues.

• EBITDA for the third quarter of 2022 was a loss of $1.5 million compared to a gain of $4.6 million in the prior year period.

• As of September 30, 2022, cash was $9.0 million. This cash balance does not reflect the net proceeds from IPO of approximately $12.0 million, which occurred on November 9, 2022.

Heidy Chow, Chief Financial Officer of Snail stated: “We are pleased with the continued engagement in our ARK series of games. We want to remind investors that we are committed to investing in our brand and fostering long-term growth. This includes focusing on the upcoming release of ARK 2, launching additional products, and implementing initiatives that enhance our product suite and improve our speed to market.”

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to the financial results determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, Snail believes Bookings and EBITDA, as non-GAAP measures, are useful in evaluating its operating performance. Bookings and EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures that are presented as supplemental disclosures and should not be construed as alternatives to net income (loss) or revenue as indicators of operating performance, nor as alternatives to cash flow provided by operating activities as measures of liquidity, both as determined in accordance with GAAP. Snail supplementally presents Bookings and EBITDA because they are key operating measures used by management to assess financial performance. Bookings adjusts for the impact of deferrals and, Snail believes, provides a useful indicator of sales in a given period. EBITDA adjusts for items that Snail believes do not reflect the ongoing operating performance of its business, such as certain non-cash items, unusual or infrequent items or items that change from period to period without any material relevance to its operating performance. Management believes Bookings and EBITDA are useful to investors and analysts in highlighting trends in Snail’s operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which Snail operates and capital investments.

Bookings is defined as the net amount of products and services sold digitally or physically in the period. Bookings is equal to revenues excluding the impact from deferrals. Below is a reconciliation of total net revenue to Bookings, the closest GAAP financial measure.

We define EBITDA as net income (loss) before (i) interest expense, (ii) interest income, (iii) income tax provision (benefit) and (iv) depreciation and amortization expense. The following table provides a reconciliation from net income (loss) to EBITDA :

Webcast Details

The Company will host a webcast at 5:00 PM ET today to discuss the third quarter 2022 financial results. Participants may access the live webcast and replay on the Company’s investor relations website at https://investor.snail.com/. The earnings call may also be accessed by dialing 1 (877) 451-6152 from the United States, or by dialing 1 (201) 389-0879 internationally.

About Snail, Inc.

Snail is a leading, global independent developer and publisher of interactive digital entertainment for consumers around the world, with a premier portfolio of premium games designed for use on a variety of platforms, including consoles, PCs and mobile devices.

Contacts:

Investors:

[email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,” “may,” “predict,” “continue,” “estimate” and “potential,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Snail’s intent, belief or current expectations. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of Snail’s business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, plans and objectives. The statements Snail makes regarding the following matters are forward-looking by their nature: growth prospects and strategies; launching new games and additional functionality to games that are commercially successful; expectations regarding significant drivers of future growth; its ability to retain and increase its player base and develop new video games and enhance existing games; competition from companies in a number of industries, including other casual game developers and publishers and both large and small, public and private Internet companies; its ability to attract and retain a qualified management team and other team members while controlling its labor costs; its relationships with third-party platforms such as Xbox Live and Game Pass, PlayStation Network, Steam, Epic Games Store, Google Stadia, the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store and the Amazon Appstore; the size of addressable markets, market share and market trends; its ability to successfully enter new markets and manage international expansion; protecting and developing its brand and intellectual property portfolio; costs associated with defending intellectual property infringement and other claims; future business development, results of operations and financial condition; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict involving Russia and Ukraine on its business and the global economy generally; rulings by courts or other governmental authorities; the Share Repurchase Program, including expectations regarding the timing and manner of repurchases made under the program; its plans to pursue and successfully integrate strategic acquisitions; assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

Further information on risks, uncertainties and other factors that could affect Snail’s financial results are included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) from time to time, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed or to be filed with the SEC. You should not rely on these forward-looking statements, as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of such risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to Snail, and Snail does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.