Gfinity (GFIN ) announced that it has extended its relationship with Formula 1® for a further year to deliver the main elements of the F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco in 2022.
The esports company will deliver the Pro Exhibition from the FORMULA 1 LENOVO BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2022 and the Pro Championship in 2022. It will also provide adjudication services to Codemasters - a UK publisher of racing games - for the 2023 Challenger Series.
The AIM-listed organisation has been working with Formula 1® and EA/Codemasters to design, develop and deliver the main elements of the F1 Esports Series since 2017.
Under the terms of the contract, Gfinity will deliver a dedicated account management team responsible for the delivery of all elements of the programme; a full league operations team responsible for writing all rules and governing the drivers participating in the tournament. It will also provide the use of ‘Race Control’, Gfinity’s proprietary in-race adjudication system.
The Gfinity Arena in London will remain the main venue for live broadcasts and will see the drivers return to LAN racing. Full details of the 2022 season format are expected soon.
Commenting, John Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, Gfinity said: “The F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco is one of the most exciting esports tournaments in the world. We are delighted to continue to work with Formula 1 to deliver an expanded 2022 programme.”
He said: “Last year’s Series broke viewing records with more than 23 million views across digital platforms, a 103% year on year increase. The foundations are in place to grow the audience even higher. The thrills and spills of virtual racing have captured the imagination.”
Also commenting on the agreement, Brandon Snow of Formula 1® said “Since 2017, we have seen the rapid growth of the F1 Esports Series and Gfinity have played a core part in that through their continued support in developing and delivering the series. We are excited to build on this foundation to bring further excitement to F1 Esports fans across the globe.”
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Gfinity has told investors that the business is “on the right path to profitability” amid increased revenues, lower operating losses and reduced operating expenditure during 1H and beyond.
The esports solutions provider saw an improvement of 3% in group revenues for 1H22 at £3.3m, up from £3m in 1H21 and a 22% improvement on previous 6 months from £2.7m.
Notably, it said the business is well capitalised to continue to deliver on its objectives following successful fundraising, underlining confidence in the Company’s long-term performance.
As at 31 December 2021, Gfinity had cash reserves of £1.5m (30 June 2021: £1.4m). Post year end, the Company successfully completed a fundraise of £2.7m. Gfinity said this provides the runway needed for it to be profitable on a month by month basis in 2023.
Commenting, John Clarke, CEO, Gfinity told investors: “We have continued to improve on financial performance during the period, despite a slower than anticipated return to live events and delays in certain revenue streams. The business remains on the right path to profitability, with increased revenues, lower operating losses and reduced operating expenditure.
“We have strong momentum in our owned revenue streams, in particular our GDM business, with record engagement numbers and revenue per user up 270% since its launch, ‘’ said Clarke, who added that GDM continues to act as the main growth engine for the Company.
Gfinity said a sustained GDM performance and good momentum leads it into 2H and while the lower than anticipated return to live esports events will impact short term revenue and profits, this is not expected to change its long-term prospects or pathway to profitability.
Clarke added: “Although the sector is still recovering from the impacts of Covid-19, macro trends remain in our favour and following a successful fundraise post-period, we now have the operating liquidity we need to deliver on our target of reaching profitability by 2023.”
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