The video game company Codegames has established itself as the greatest investment success of the president of Mercadona, Juan Roig, in firms driven by entrepreneurs. The company in which the owner of the supermarket chain participates has had its fifth consecutive year with profits. Digital Things, the company that designs and operates the online games of the Codigames brand, earned 9.3 million euros last yeardespite the fact that its growth has slowed after the strong boom recorded in the pandemic.
The Valencia-based development company reached a turnover of 32.8 million euros last year, 14% less than in 2021 and less than half than in the year of confinement, in which it raised its income above 71 million euros.
Lower revenues cut profits by 24%, but Codigames continues to report huge profits to its shareholders, who approved the distribution 5 million euros dividend on account of the 2022 result. In the two previous years, the video game firm had already paid another 25 million euros to its partners.
Codigames develops its games for Google’s Android and Apple’s IOS platforms and has surpassed the 70 million players all over the world with their video games, which mostly focus on strategy to build and manage large casino chains, law firms, hotel chains, hospitals or supermarkets. The firm hopes to maintain its income this year and even grow with the launch of new references.
The entrepreneurs
The company was created in 2013 by the Murcians Francisco José Martínez and Zacarías Gómezwho in addition to remaining in charge of management remain as main partners. Angels, Roig’s investment firm with which it enters emerging firms that have gone through its Lanzadera accelerator, is the owner of a 10.85% of the shareholding, although the owner of Mercadona controlled 27.5%.
A participation that has been reducing due to the consolidation of the own audiovisual firm and that has been bought back by the founders themselves to establish themselves at the head of the game developer. As published elEconomista.esRoig reduced his percentage by almost 10% two years ago within the agreement he had with the company’s promoters.
The startup born in 2013 was part of the first batches that went through the Lanzadera accelerator and Angels entered its capital in 2016 to promote a project that today adds more than 80 jobs.
