Games developer’s shares crash on weak Jurassic World sales

Last year, Frontier shares more than doubled as locked-down gamers spent more time on PCs and consoles.

However, in recent months supply chain issues have led to shortages of the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as the graphics cards used in gaming computers.

Analysts at Jefferies cut expectations for annual operating profit in half. It cited data from the game download store Steam suggesting purchases of the game on PCs had been about half that of its predecessor.

Peel Hunt said sales of the title may have been blighted by a lack of a Jurassic World film being released at the same time.

Production of the latest in the franchise was delayed by the pandemic and is set to be released next summer.

Frontier, which has around 700 employees, is best known for management simulation games such as Planet Coaster and Plant Zoo, as well as the space fighting series Elite, which dates back to 1984.

The company was founded by David Braben, one of Britain’s most influential games developers.