English is not my first language
But I try my best! Its a long read but I believe that it is informative. The information is from Mindark´s homepage but I am to lazy to find links and do it properly. You as a reader can verify. This is my opinion.
Before I add my assessment of the stock I would like to highlight that I love the Entropia Universe, I somewhat understand the challanges Mindark is facing and that what they have done with TWEN was the best state of the game - FOR ME - that it has ever been. They have released alot of great content, with more to come, and the "oh so important" communication towards thier playerbase, or perhaps its investors (in and outside of the game), has atleast been improved. This is my assessment of why the stock is performing the way it is:
Even tho 2023 was a really strong year for Mindark, that was building on the covid hype, the biggest deal of them all was the move to Unreal 5.
Mindark is facing challanges when it comes to acquiring new customers and has matured as a company with needs to reinvent itself for further growth. The biggest vehicle for this reinvention is, in my oppinion, Unreal 5.
Around the time the stock was listed Mindark had revealed that they had signed a deal for Unreal 5 and that they had put almost everything on the backburner in order for that work to take priority. I tried to find the link where they said that they aimed to complete the work sometime 2024-2025 (correct me if im wrong, I dont remember the wording of what thier goal was or where it was communicated). There was a devblog made, instagrams setups and alot of activity regarding Unreal 5.
Then something happend. No updates on the blog or Instagram. A shift in focus from "everyone on board" to "We also need to focus on the current gamrelated activitys to create revenue bla bla". I think this was a good move. They cant just drop everything for Unreal 5.
But it also tells the story of that thier initial assesment of when Unreal 5 would be implimented was most likely miscalculated. I am not surprised. The amount of work that goes into this kind of move - and also the talent needed in order to pull it of - is not a small undertaking. And its a BIG change from maintaining the current engine, with limited new content, to learning a new language and taking old code and making it usuable in Unreal 5. I mean its a BIG leap.
So the stockprice started falling.
It gained some momentum with the AI-announcement that got alot of hype (and got tied to a big layoff of staff). That also got new investors onboard. However this was short lived when it was discoverd that the people that reported the news (not Mindark) overhyped the whole situation.
It started falling again but got momentum when it was communicated that MindArk's net sales and profit after financial items increase significantly in Q4 2023. This was however also quite short lived when investors that dont play the game understood that the TWEN event, that contributed to these numbers, was a onetime event. Something that the latest report reflected. So the price started to fall again.
That was a short and simple summery I believe.
A bigger question is if the stock is undervalued (?). Or if Mindark can pull of Unreal 5 in a somewhat timely fashion (?). Or what kind of content generation they will supply until then (?) and if this content will keep current "status quo" or create more revenue (?).
I am just a normal Entropia citizen with love for the game. I am not a big spender but I do contribute to the economy. People like JBK, Eve, Messi and the other BIG Ava´s, Traders and other BIG organisations (se what I did there
have much more insight into the game then I do and what makes it tick. I am sure they can give a more complete answer to state of game stuffs.
There is ALOT of room for growth. ALOT of room for improvment. If handled correctly Unreal 5 can take our beloved universe to a COMPLETLY new level and bring the stock, ingame assets and company with them. But in order for that to happen I believe that normal Swedish working culture needs to take a step back. I hope its less talking and alot more working. Less "company culture" and more late hours. Less focus on who is who and more focus on who CAN DO.
As always a big shoutout to the people at Mindark. Mindark fighting ~
www.mindark.com
