Playtika Holding Corp (PLTK) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Playtika Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, (inaudible), SVP of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Playtika 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想將會議交給您今天的發言人，（聽不清），公司財務和投資者關係高級副總裁。

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for the fourth quarter 2022 earnings call for Playtika Holding Corp. Joining me on the call today are Robert Antokol, Co-Founder and CEO of Playtika; and Craig Abrahams, Playtika's President and Chief Financial Officer. I'd like to remind you that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the company's anticipated future revenue and operating performance. These statements and other comments are not a guarantee of future performance but rather are subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. These forward-looking statements apply as of today, and you should not rely on them as representing our views in the future. We undertake no obligation to update these statements after this call. For a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the SEC.

歡迎大家，並感謝您今天加入我們參加 Playtika Holding Corp 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。今天和我一起參加電話會議的有 Playtika 的聯合創始人兼首席執行官 Robert Antokol； Playtika 總裁兼首席財務官 Craig Abrahams。我想提醒您，今天的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述，包括但不限於公司預期的未來收入和經營業績。這些聲明和其他評論不是未來業績的保證，而是受風險和不確定性的影響，其中一些是我們無法控制的。這些前瞻性陳述適用於今天，您不應依賴它們代表我們未來的觀點。我們沒有義務在本次電話會議後更新這些聲明。有關風險和不確定性的更完整討論，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

We have posted an accompanying slide deck to our Investor Relations website, and we'll also post our prepared remarks immediately following the call.

我們已經在我們的投資者關係網站上發布了隨附的幻燈片，我們還將在電話會議後立即發布我們準備好的評論。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Robert.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給羅伯特。

Thank you, everyone, for joining our call today. First, I want to thank all our employees globally for their contribution to our success this year. I am pleased to report that we ended the year on a strong note, and I am proud of what we achieved in 2022. We met our financial guidance, and we remain focused on our mission to deliver the best mobile gaming experience to players worldwide and maximizing value for our shareholders. We believe that we have the best people, technology and platform for navigating the current macro environment facing mobile gaming. The action we took in 2022 will allow us to be even stronger company with a solid operating results and free cash flow.

謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。首先，我要感謝全球所有員工為我們今年的成功所做的貢獻。我很高興地報告，我們以強勁的成績結束了這一年，我為我們在 2022 年取得的成就感到自豪。我們達到了財務目標，我們仍然專注於為全球玩家提供最佳移動遊戲體驗的使命，以及為我們的股東實現價值最大化。我們相信，我們擁有最好的人才、技術和平台來駕馭當前移動遊戲面臨的宏觀環境。我們在 2022 年採取的行動將使我們成為更強大的公司，擁有穩健的經營業績和自由現金流。

For the full year 2022, we maintained our leading position across 5 different game categories. We also have 9 of the top 100 highest grossing mobile games in the U.S. and we will continue to be industry leader while identifying opportunities in every segment of the business.

2022 年全年，我們在 5 個不同的遊戲類別中保持領先地位。在美國收入最高的 100 款手機遊戲中，我們也擁有 9 款，我們將繼續保持行業領先地位，同時在業務的各個領域尋找機會。

I'm excited about the next phase of growth for Playtika. Our people are our strongest asset, and we proud ourselves in our ability to develop and support them with the best intra technology and tools needed to be the leading mobile gaming company. Our digital studio platform powered by AI continues to grow and take a bigger role across our studios game operation while optimizing monetization. Our visit to digitize the gaming operation space is progressing across all relevant gaming functions from user acquisition to content generation and player experience. We are focused on optimizing the capabilities of our platform with a long-term plan of integrating digital studios capabilities across all our games.

我對 Playtika 下一階段的增長感到興奮。我們的員工是我們最強大的資產，我們為能夠使用成為領先的移動遊戲公司所需的最佳內部技術和工具來開發和支持他們而感到自豪。我們由 AI 提供支持的數字工作室平台繼續發展，並在優化貨幣化的同時在我們的工作室遊戲運營中發揮更大的作用。我們對遊戲運營空間數字化的訪問正在所有相關遊戲功能中取得進展，從用戶獲取到內容生成和玩家體驗。我們專注於優化我們平台的功能，並製定了在我們所有遊戲中集成數字工作室功能的長期計劃。

To summarize, I'm confident we will strengthen our position in the mobile gaming industry, continue to grow cash flow while maximizing long-term shareholder value. I will now turn it to Craig who will discuss the quarter and the year in greater detail and provide our guidance for fiscal year 2023.

總而言之，我相信我們將鞏固我們在手機遊戲行業的地位，繼續增加現金流，同時實現長期股東價值最大化。我現在請克雷格 (Craig) 更詳細地討論本季度和本年度，並提供我們對 2023 財年的指導。

Thank you, Robert. We posted financial results that were better than implied Q4 guidance this past quarter and made significant strategic decisions to position the company for future success. We made several strategic decisions in 2022 to position the company for continued success after recognizing that the industry landscape was evolving and impacting our portfolio. We are prioritizing our investment decisions to align the company's expense profile with revenue trends. At every level of the organization, we are actively managing costs and streamlining the company while still making key investments such as our digital studio initiative that will support our next phase of growth for Playtika. We have shifted our strategy for new game development, and we'll focus the new game evaluation process out of the creative team in our Wooga studio. While we saw that our new games received positive feedback from our players and achieved strong retention numbers, the marketing environment and increasing CPIs for new games made it challenging for us to scale these games profitably. Based on the current marketing environment, we made the decision to temporarily suspend our new game development pipeline until the ROI for new games is economically viable. Complementing this strategic shift, we are leveraging our mobile gaming and regional expertise to make strategic investments in high-growth potential studios.

謝謝你，羅伯特。我們公佈的財務業績優於上個季度隱含的第四季度指引，並做出重大戰略決策，為公司未來的成功做好準備。在認識到行業格局正在演變並影響我們的產品組合後，我們在 2022 年做出了幾項戰略決策，以使公司繼續取得成功。我們正在優先考慮我們的投資決策，以使公司的費用概況與收入趨勢保持一致。在組織的各個層面，我們都在積極管理成本和精簡公司，同時仍在進行關鍵投資，例如我們的數字工作室計劃，這將支持我們下一階段的 Playtika 增長。我們已經改變了新遊戲開發的策略，我們將把新遊戲評估過程的重點放在我們 Wooga 工作室的創意團隊之外。雖然我們看到我們的新遊戲收到了玩家的積極反饋並取得了很高的留存率，但營銷環境和新遊戲不斷增加的 CPI 使我們很難擴大這些遊戲的盈利規模。根據當前的營銷環境，我們決定暫時中止新遊戲的開發流程，直到新遊戲的投資回報率在經濟上可行為止。作為這一戰略轉變的補充，我們正在利用我們的移動遊戲和區域專業知識對具有高增長潛力的工作室進行戰略投資。

This past quarter, we announced our investment in ACE Games, the developer of Fiona's Farm. Our investment in Ace Games is a great example of how we will continue to seek exposure to games with high growth potential and access to world-class product teams. With our existing portfolio of industry-leading titles, we continue to focus our marketing efforts on higher-quality traffic sources and generating ROI driven by our scale and AI technology. Our marketing strategy of combining our UA efforts with off-line campaigns is a competitive advantage for Playtika and we'll continue to maintain our focus on Tier 1 markets and shifting more of our UA spending to our growth titles.

上個季度，我們宣布投資 Fiona 農場的開發商 ACE Games。我們對 Ace Games 的投資是一個很好的例子，說明我們將如何繼續尋求接觸具有高增長潛力的遊戲並接觸世界一流的產品團隊。憑藉我們現有的行業領先產品組合，我們繼續將營銷工作重點放在更高質量的流量來源上，並通過我們的規模和人工智能技術產生投資回報率。我們將 UA 努力與線下活動相結合的營銷策略是 Playtika 的競爭優勢，我們將繼續保持對一級市場的關注，並將更多的 UA 支出轉移到我們的增長游戲上。

Turning now to our business results for the quarter. Going forward, we'll be providing revenue detail for our top 3 highest grossing games. Revenue across our casual team games grew 2.7% versus a year ago. Bingo Blitz revenue was $155.1 million, up 18.4% year-over-year, driven by several in-game live ops celebrations around the game's 12-year anniversary and other special themes throughout the quarter, including unique mini games.

現在轉向我們本季度的業務結果。展望未來，我們將提供收入最高的 3 款遊戲的收入詳情。我們休閒團隊遊戲的收入與一年前相比增長了 2.7%。 Bingo Blitz 收入為 1.551 億美元，同比增長 18.4%，這主要得益於圍繞該遊戲 12 週年的幾場遊戲內現場運營慶祝活動以及整個季度的其他特殊主題，包括獨特的迷你游戲。

We introduced a new team gameplay mechanism where our players can now work together to complete missions that earn them virtual rewards in the game. We made technology improvements in the game through our PlayNow initiative which significantly decreased the waiting time to start a new bingo round by 65% on average. We saw that this not only improve the overall experience for our players, but encouraged them to play more. Solitaire Grand Harvest revenue was $72.8 million, up 18.7% year-over-year. We are excited by the momentum in the studio. The strong combination of albums and collections events around Halloween, Christmas and New Year's Eve, all contributed to the studio success this quarter. It was a record quarter for Solitaire for both revenue and paying users.

我們引入了一種新的團隊遊戲機制，我們的玩家現在可以一起工作來完成任務，從而在遊戲中獲得虛擬獎勵。我們通過 PlayNow 計劃對遊戲進行了技術改進，這顯著減少了開始新一輪賓果遊戲的平均等待時間 65%。我們看到這不僅改善了玩家的整體體驗，還鼓勵他們玩得更多。 Solitaire Grand Harvest 收入為 7280 萬美元，同比增長 18.7%。我們對工作室的發展勢頭感到興奮。圍繞萬聖節、聖誕節和新年前夜的專輯和收藏活動的強大組合，都為本季度工作室的成功做出了貢獻。對於收入和付費用戶而言，這是 Solitaire 創紀錄的一個季度。

In addition, the studio broke the $1 million daily revenue mark for the first time. Social casino team games revenue for the fourth quarter was down 8.6% versus a year ago. This was driven primarily by lower results in Slotomania. Slotomania revenue was $149.2 million, down 9% year-over-year.

此外，該工作室的日收入首次突破 100 萬美元大關。第四季度社交賭場團隊遊戲收入同比下降 8.6%。這主要是由於 Slotomania 的業績下降所致。 Slotomania 收入為 1.492 億美元，同比下降 9%。

As previously discussed, Slotomania is a strategic priority for the company, and we are focused on stabilizing the game. We saw improvements in KPIs in the past quarter, driven by the launch of major features such as new piggy cards and new jackpot mechanisms and improvements to Slotomaniac land, we are shifting the focus back to the core of the game with better slot style content and optimizing the game economy. We will continue to provide updates on our progress.

如前所述，Slotomania 是公司的戰略重點，我們專注於穩定遊戲。在上個季度，我們看到了 KPI 的改善，這是由於推出了新的小豬卡和新的累積獎金機制等主要功能以及對 Slotomaniac land 的改進，我們正在將重點轉移回游戲的核心，提供更好的老虎機風格內容和優化遊戲經濟。我們將繼續提供最新進展。

Before we turn to an overview of our consolidated results, I'll spend some time talking about the presentation of adjusted EBITDA going forward. This will be the last quarter where we discuss retention plan adjusted EBITDA, which we previously referred to as adjusted EBITDA. And with add backs for our long-term cash compensation plan and M&A-related retention payments.

在我們回顧我們的綜合結果之前，我將花一些時間討論調整後 EBITDA 的介紹。這將是我們討論保留計劃調整後的 EBITDA 的最後一個季度，我們之前將其稱為調整後的 EBITDA。並為我們的長期現金補償計劃和與併購相關的保留付款提供額外支持。

Going forward, we will refer to our credit adjusted EBITDA when discussing the historical performance and in giving guidance. As a reminder, the Playtika 2021 to '24 retention plan ends after 2024.

展望未來，我們將在討論歷史業績和提供指導時參考我們的信用調整後 EBITDA。提醒一下，Playtika 2021 到 '24 保留計劃將在 2024 年後結束。

For the year, we achieved results within our financial guidance range. We generated $2.616 billion of revenue, up 1.3% year-over-year, $275.3 million of net income, down 10.8% year-over-year and $919 million of retention plan adjusted EBITDA, down 6.5% year-over-year. In the fourth quarter, revenue was $631.2 million, down 2.7% year-over-year. Net income was $87.5 million, down 14.5% and retention plan adjusted EBITDA was $228.9 million, up 7.7% year-over-year.

今年，我們在財務指導範圍內取得了成果。我們創造了 26.16 億美元的收入，同比增長 1.3%，淨收入 2.753 億美元，同比下降 10.8%，保留計劃調整後的 EBITDA 為 9.19 億美元，同比下降 6.5%。第四季度收入為 6.312 億美元，同比下降 2.7%。淨收入為 8750 萬美元，下降 14.5%，保留計劃調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.289 億美元，同比增長 7.7%。

Our retention plan adjusted EBITDA margin was 35.1% for the year and 36.3% for Q4. Credit adjusted EBITDA for the year was $805.1 million, a decrease of 5.1% year-over-year. For the fourth quarter, credit adjusted EBITDA was $202.6 million, an increase of 15% from the fourth quarter of 2021. Our credit adjusted EBITDA margin was 30.8% for the year and 32.1% for Q4.

我們的保留計劃調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 35.1%，第四季度為 36.3%。全年信貸調整後 EBITDA 為 8.051 億美元，同比下降 5.1%。第四季度，經信貸調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.026 億美元，比 2021 年第四季度增長 15%。我們全年的信貸調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 30.8%，第四季度為 32.1%。

For the year, we generated $383.7 million in free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations minus capital expenditures. We spent $110 million in capital expenditures, which includes purchase of property and equipment, capitalization of internal use software and purchases of software for internal uses, below our '22 guidance of $125 million to $130 million. We successfully executed our tender offer in Q4, returning $600 million to shareholders and retiring over 51.8 million shares.

這一年，我們產生了 3.837 億美元的自由現金流，定義為運營現金流減去資本支出。我們花費了 1.1 億美元的資本支出，其中包括購買財產和設備、內部使用軟件的資本化和內部使用軟件的購買，低於我們 22 年 1.25 億美元至 1.3 億美元的指導。我們在第四季度成功執行了要約收購，向股東返還了 6 億美元，並退市了超過 5180 萬股。

Recognizing the macro headwinds facing the industry, we slowed the pace of hiring earlier in the year, and we ran the business with a focus on cost discipline across the entire organization. We are highly committed to ensuring that our expense profile is aligned with our growth outlook. We're starting to see positive impact of these strategic decisions in our financial results.

認識到該行業面臨的宏觀逆風，我們在今年早些時候放慢了招聘步伐，我們在經營業務時重點關注整個組織的成本紀律。我們高度致力於確保我們的費用狀況與我們的增長前景保持一致。我們開始看到這些戰略決策對我們財務業績的積極影響。

Turning now to specific line items for the fourth quarter. Cost of revenue declined 1.1% year-over-year and operating expenses declined by 9.1% year-over-year. Our credit adjusted EBITDA margin increased sequentially every quarter this year starting in the first quarter. While we experienced revenue headwinds throughout most of the year, our focus on efficiencies enabled us to achieve these results. R&D was stable, increasing by 0.9%.

現在轉向第四季度的具體項目。收入成本同比下降 1.1%，運營費用同比下降 9.1%。從第一季度開始，我們今年每個季度的信用調整後 EBITDA 利潤率都在連續增長。雖然我們在一年中的大部分時間都經歷了收入逆風，但我們對效率的關注使我們能夠取得這些成果。研發穩定增長0.9%。

Sales and marketing declined by 17.7%. The decline in sales and marketing expenses were driven by timing of some of our off-line campaigns. The strategic decisions that we made this year regarding our new games pipeline and the reduction in marketing expenses in Redecor. Q4 of 2021 outsized spending for offline campaigns. G&A expenses declined by 7.3%. This was primarily driven by decreases in share-based compensation and our long-term cash compensation plan.

銷售和營銷下降了 17.7%。銷售和營銷費用的下降是由我們的一些線下活動的時間推動的。我們今年做出的關於新遊戲管道和減少 Redecor 營銷費用的戰略決策。 2021 年第 4 季度線下活動的支出過大。 G&A 費用下降了 7.3%。這主要是由於基於股份的薪酬減少和我們的長期現金薪酬計劃。

GAAP net income was $87.5 million. As of December 31, we had approximately $768.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. Our effective tax rate for the year was 23.7%. Looking at our operational metrics, average DPU increased 0.6% year-over-year to $313,000. Average DAU declined 14.6% year-over-year to $8.8 million. ARPDAU increased 14.7% year-over-year to $0.78.

GAAP 淨收入為 8750 萬美元。截至 12 月 31 日，我們擁有大約 7.687 億美元的現金和現金等價物。我們當年的有效稅率為 23.7%。查看我們的運營指標，平均 DPU 同比增長 0.6% 至 313,000 美元。平均 DAU 同比下降 14.6% 至 880 萬美元。 ARPDAU 同比增長 14.7% 至 0.78 美元。

Turning to marketing. As mentioned, we had less production costs this quarter for off-line campaigns and production versus the prior year and less UA spend due to shifts in marketing strategy.

轉向營銷。如前所述，由於營銷策略的轉變，我們本季度的線下活動和製作成本低於上一年，UA 支出也有所減少。

Turning now to more detail behind our efficiency initiatives. In December, we announced an initiative to reduce our workforce globally. While it was a very difficult decision, it was necessary as we look to operate more efficiently. We expect that all of the impacted employees will no longer be on our head count by the end of the second quarter. We expect the year-over-year impact to credit adjusted EBITDA from the reduction in force to be approximately $33 million.

現在轉向我們效率舉措背後的更多細節。 12 月，我們宣布了一項在全球範圍內裁員的舉措。雖然這是一個非常艱難的決定，但在我們希望更有效地運營時這是必要的。我們預計，到第二季度末，所有受影響的員工將不再在我們的員工人數中。我們預計裁員對信貸調整後 EBITDA 的同比影響約為 3300 萬美元。

Turning now to our guidance and financial outlook for 2023. I'll begin with our revenue expectations. We expect to deliver full year revenue between $2.57 billion and $2.62 billion compared to $2.616 billion in 2022. We expect to generate credit adjusted EBITDA between $805 million and $830 million compared to $805.1 million in 2022. We expect to deploy $115 million to $120 million in capital expenditures. As we look at the outlook for our business in 2023, we are confident in our road map in each of our studios. We will continue to prioritize and invest in our strongest franchises across our full game portfolio to build on the momentum they have achieved.

現在轉向我們對 2023 年的指導和財務展望。我將從我們的收入預期開始。我們預計全年收入將在 25.7 億美元至 26.2 億美元之間，而 2022 年為 26.16 億美元。我們預計將產生 8.05 億美元至 8.3 億美元的信貸調整後 EBITDA，而 2022 年為 8.051 億美元。我們預計將部署 1.15 億美元至 1.2 億美元資本支出。當我們展望 2023 年的業務前景時，我們對每個工作室的路線圖充滿信心。我們將繼續優先考慮並投資於我們整個遊戲組合中最強大的特許經營權，以鞏固他們已經取得的勢頭。

Finally, this year will be another year where we'll continue to be focused on cost discipline, prioritizing our investment decisions on high ROI projects while navigating a difficult macroeconomic environment for mobile gaming that we will expect to improve in 2024 and beyond.

最後，今年將是又一年，我們將繼續關注成本紀律，優先考慮高投資回報率項目的投資決策，同時應對移動遊戲艱難的宏觀經濟環境，我們預計在 2024 年及以後會有所改善。

With that, we'd be happy to take your questions.

有了這個，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自高盛的 Eric Sheridan。

Maybe two, if I can. With the way you're approaching the portfolio now, can you help us understand how we should be thinking about the portfolio's overall growth vis-a-vis sort of broader mobile growth? Because it appears there's going to be titles where you're investing in growth and titles for maybe you have a focus for harvesting cash as well just because of various things you're seeing in the marketing dynamic?

也許兩個，如果可以的話。以你現在接近投資組合的方式，你能幫助我們理解我們應該如何考慮投資組合的整體增長相對於更廣泛的移動增長嗎？因為看起來會有一些頭銜，你正在投資增長和頭銜，也許你也專注於收穫現金，只是因為你在營銷動態中看到的各種事情？

And the second part of it would be coming back to the marketing landscape comment you made. I would love to get a better sense of how far off you think the marketing landscape is, ROI possible as a measurement tool there to where you could see a correction in marketing that would bring you back into making more aggressive growth investments as we go through 2023. So just better understanding what that gap might be between what you're trying to solve for and where the landscape is today?

它的第二部分將回到您所做的營銷環境評論。我很想更好地了解您認為營銷前景還有多遠，投資回報率可能作為一種衡量工具在那裡您可以看到營銷的調整，這將使您在我們經歷的過程中重新進行更積極的增長投資2023 年。因此，只是更好地了解您要解決的問題與今天的情況之間的差距是什麼？

Sure. Thanks, Eric. So in terms of the portfolio, we continue to invest in our biggest franchises. That's where we see our best returns and having the most success. And so I think there's been a strategic shift where we're making those investments into those titles. I think there's also been a strategic shift in our mindset around cost management and margin improvement. And I think obviously, our revenue guidance reflects our view sort of our top line and the implied EBITDA growth reflects our discipline around cost management. In terms of the marketing environment, we continue to invest in off-line campaigns, creating demand for our portfolio of games. We continue to leverage our AI technology to be more efficient in our media buying and continue to buy from a variety of diverse sources. And so I think we continue to navigate a tough environment and doing a great job at and navigating that. I'm not sure exactly what needs to change further for us to invest more.

當然。謝謝，埃里克。因此，就投資組合而言，我們繼續投資於我們最大的特許經營權。這就是我們看到最好的回報和最成功的地方。因此，我認為已經發生了戰略轉變，我們正在對這些遊戲進行投資。我認為我們圍繞成本管理和利潤率提高的思維方式也發生了戰略轉變。我認為很明顯，我們的收入指引反映了我們對收入的看法，而隱含的 EBITDA 增長反映了我們對成本管理的紀律。在營銷環境方面，我們繼續投資線下活動，為我們的遊戲組合創造需求。我們繼續利用我們的人工智能技術來提高媒體購買的效率，並繼續從各種不同的來源進行購買。因此，我認為我們將繼續在艱難的環境中航行，並在這方面做得很好。我不確定究竟需要進一步改變什麼才能讓我們投資更多。

Everything is very scientific and ROI based. I think really the biggest impact that we saw in 2022 was to new game launches, and we made strategic adjustments since and are now focusing on investing externally in world-class partners where we can see opportunities to invest in new games -- and temporarily suspending most new game development internally, excluding Wooga.

一切都非常科學且基於投資回報率。我認為我們在 2022 年看到的最大影響確實是新遊戲的發布，我們從那以後進行了戰略調整，現在專注於對外投資世界級合作夥伴，在那裡我們可以看到投資新遊戲的機會——並暫時中止大多數新遊戲的內部開發，不包括 Wooga。

Our next question comes from Matt Cost with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Matt Cost。

Maybe following up on some of the comments you just made about the pipeline. So other than Wooga, the pipeline has kind of paused for the time being, is the decision to restart investments in the pipeline? Is it really just a function of when the marketing environment normalizes? Or are there other factors? And then based on whatever it is you're using to make that decision, do you have an expectation that, that might change in the near term? Or is this pause of the pipeline, something that based on what you know today could persist for quite some time?

也許跟進您剛剛對管道發表的一些評論。所以除了 Wooga 之外，管道暫時暫停了，是否決定重新開始管道投資？它真的只是營銷環境正常化時的功能嗎？還是有其他因素？然後根據您用來做出該決定的任何內容，您是否期望這可能會在短期內發生變化？還是管道的暫停，根據您今天所知道的，這種暫停可能會持續相當長的一段時間？

And then secondly, just one more thing on marketing. Should we expect the typical step up in the first quarter in marketing where you lean in a little bit more aggressively after holidays as you have in past years?

其次，關於營銷的另一件事。我們是否應該期待第一季度在營銷方面的典型提升，您在假期後會像過去幾年那樣更積極地投入一點？

So thanks for the question, Matt. So in terms of the new game pipeline, we continue to develop great games throughout '22 with great retention and monetization metrics there.The real big difference from years past was the cost of installations. And with the CPI going up so much, the math around return on investment just wasn't working. And so until that fundamentally changes, we don't believe it's prudent for us to invest significant dollars in new game development. That said, there are certain categories that we find interesting, and we have an innovation lab at Woogas still evaluating new opportunities. And we have -- we did make a $25 million investment in ACE games in the fourth quarter, which has a fantastic game (inaudible) Farm. And so I think where we find great product teams with great products, we will make investments and be strategic about it. But in terms of the new game pipeline, the mathematics around marketing just doesn't work right now. In terms of marketing, we don't we don't give kind of quarter-to-quarter guidance. I think what I would say is we do invest and find the first quarter is a good quarter for marketing investments, but no specific guidance.

謝謝你的問題，馬特。因此，就新遊戲管道而言，我們在 22 年期間繼續開發出色的遊戲，並在那裡提供出色的留存率和貨幣化指標。與過去幾年真正最大的不同是安裝成本。隨著 CPI 上漲如此之多，關於投資回報率的數學計算就不再奏效了。因此，在這種情況發生根本性改變之前，我們認為在新遊戲開發上投入大量資金是不明智的。也就是說，我們發現某些類別很有趣，而且我們在 Woogas 有一個創新實驗室，仍在評估新的機會。我們已經 - 我們確實在第四季度對 ACE 遊戲進行了 2500 萬美元的投資，其中有一個很棒的遊戲（聽不清）農場。因此，我認為在我們找到擁有優秀產品的優秀產品團隊的地方，我們將進行投資並製定戰略。但就新遊戲管道而言，圍繞營銷的數學現在還行不通。在營銷方面，我們不會給出季度到季度的指導。我想我要說的是我們確實進行了投資，發現第一季度是營銷投資的好季度，但沒有具體的指導。

Our next question comes from Douglas Creutz with Cowen & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen & Company 的 Douglas Creutz。

We're 2 months into 2023. It looks to us based on some of our work that you're having a pretty healthy start to the year, particularly BINGO Blitz and Solitaire Grand Harvest. So could you comment a bit about what you're seeing in the first 2 months? And how that sort of folds into your thinking about guidance for the year?

距離 2023 年還有 2 個月。根據我們的一些工作，我們認為今年開局非常健康，尤其是 BINGO Blitz 和 Solitaire Grand Harvest。那麼，您能否評論一下您在前兩個月所看到的情況？這如何融入您對年度指導的思考？

Sure. So 2022 was a year where we saw downward pressure throughout the year, but I think we started to see things turn around in the middle of the fourth quarter. And so we've seen positive improvements over the last few months. And obviously, that was taken into consideration when we provided guidance. And so while we've seen some positive progression over the last few months, there's not much we can comment further on in this call.

當然。所以 2022 年是我們全年都看到下行壓力的一年，但我認為我們在第四季度中期開始看到情況好轉。因此，我們在過去幾個月中看到了積極的改進。顯然，我們在提供指導時已考慮到這一點。因此，雖然我們在過去幾個月中看到了一些積極的進展，但我們在這次電話會議上沒有什麼可以進一步評論的。

Next question comes from Stephen Ju with Credit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Stephen Ju。

Okay. So I guess if you're having difficulty scaling new franchises, we would have to think that a similar backdrop is prevalent for other companies as well. So has the environment changed in terms of assets becoming available for you to potentially acquire. And secondarily, I mean, given the current environment, has your attitude towards running more in-app advertising to generate more revenue changed at all?

好的。所以我想如果你在擴大新特許經營權方面遇到困難，我們將不得不認為其他公司也普遍存在類似的背景。因此，在資產變得可供您潛在獲取方面，環境發生了變化。其次，我的意思是，在當前環境下，您對投放更多應用內廣告以產生更多收入的態度是否有任何改變？

So regarding the ads, we are not changing our policy. We never believed in the hedge revenues. We tried, I can say here, we tried to do a few tests, but it's never worked well for us. And especially when you look in the environment today in the market, when the CPIs are high, so today, if you are a paying user in an app, your retention is much better, much stronger than all other ad revenues. So it makes your game healthy. It makes your revenue more stable. And actually, one of the main things that we achieved this year was bringing more paying users to our circle. And this was one of our target. So this is -- right now, you can see the advantage of Playtika that we are focusing on in app and in a purchase. And it helps us to grow our users and help us to bring more paying users. And this is a big advantage that we have on our competitors.

所以關於廣告，我們不會改變我們的政策。我們從不相信對沖收入。我們試過，我可以在這裡說，我們試過做一些測試，但它對我們來說從來沒有奏效。尤其是當你看看今天的市場環境時，當 CPI 很高時，所以今天，如果你是應用程序的付費用戶，你的留存率要好得多，比所有其他廣告收入都要強得多。所以它讓你的遊戲健康。它使您的收入更加穩定。事實上，我們今年取得的主要成就之一是為我們的圈子帶來了更多的付費用戶。這是我們的目標之一。所以這就是 - 現在，您可以看到我們在應用程序和購買中關注的 Playtika 的優勢。它幫助我們增加用戶並幫助我們帶來更多付費用戶。這是我們對競爭對手的一大優勢。

And Stephen, to your first part of your question on the M&A environment related to marketing, I think there's two sides to it. The first side is you're seeing fewer startups being successful in their ability to scale new games, which obviously creates fewer M&A opportunities. On the other side of that, given the difficulty to scale, you're seeing opportunities to invest at better valuations and potentially acquire companies as they struggle in this environment. So I think those are the kind of two sides of the coin there.

斯蒂芬，對於你關於與營銷相關的併購環境的問題的第一部分，我認為它有兩個方面。一方面是你看到越來越少的初創公司在擴展新遊戲的能力方面取得成功，這顯然創造了更少的併購機會。另一方面，鑑於難以擴大規模，你會看到以更高估值進行投資的機會，並有可能收購在這種環境下苦苦掙扎的公司。所以我認為這些是硬幣的兩面。

Our next question comes from Drew Crum with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Drew Crum。

As you enter 2023, can you address how the company is prioritizing uses of cash? You've announced a proposal to make a fairly sizable acquisition. In light of that, what leverage multiple are you comfortable? And then separately, on the direct-to-consumer platform, it's a little more than 23% of revenue in 2022. What are your expectations for 2023? And is your longer-term goal still to be at 30%.

當您進入 2023 年時，您能否說明公司如何優先使用現金？你已經宣布了一項進行相當大的收購的提議。有鑑於此，您覺得什麼槓桿倍數合適？然後分別在直接面向消費者的平台上，2022 年佔收入的 23% 多一點。您對 2023 年有何期望？你的長期目標是否仍然是 30%。

Thanks, Drew. So in terms of our priorities, we're consistent with what we've said in the past and that M&A continues to be a priority for us in terms of adding franchises to our portfolio. If you look at our 9 titles in the top 100 in 2022, 7 of them came through M&A. So that continues to be, for us, the means to which we want to bring titles onto the portfolio. In terms of leverage, historically, we've said that 1 to 3x net leverage is our target range. But for the right M&A opportunity, we'd consider going above that. But that's sort of our public comments in the past and nothing's changed there from management's perspective.

謝謝，德魯。因此，就我們的優先事項而言，我們與過去所說的一致，併購仍然是我們在投資組合中增加特許經營權方面的優先事項。如果你看看我們在 2022 年前 100 名中的 9 個頭銜，其中 7 個是通過併購獲得的。因此，對我們來說，這仍然是我們希望將標題帶入投資組合的方式。在槓桿方面，從歷史上看，我們曾說過 1 到 3 倍的淨槓桿是我們的目標範圍。但對於合適的併購機會，我們會考慮超越這一點。但那是我們過去的公開評論，從管理層的角度來看沒有任何改變。

And then lastly, in terms of direct-to-consumer, we continue to have that 30% target. We are adding two new titles onto the D2C platform in 2023. And so as we add titles into the casual portfolio on the D2C platform, we hope to see continued progression there.

最後，就直接面向消費者而言，我們繼續保持 30% 的目標。我們將在 2023 年在 D2C 平台上添加兩個新遊戲。因此，當我們將游戲添加到 D2C 平台上的休閒產品組合中時，我們希望看到那裡繼續取得進展。

And Craig, sorry, what are those two new titles?

克雷格，抱歉，這兩個新標題是什麼？

June's journey and Solitaire Harvest.

六月的旅程和紙牌收穫。

Our next question comes from Omar Dessouky with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Omar Dessouky。

Shortly after your third quarter call, you released an 8-K that showed that you were lowering your performance stock unit invest in thresholds. So for example, previously, the 50% threshold was 6% growth for 2023 to 2025 within each year. And then subsequently, it was 1% growth. And I just wanted to know was there any reason that investors should not take that as some sign of your confidence in '24 and '25 growth of revenue.

在第三季度電話會議後不久，您發布了一份 8-K，表明您正在降低績效股票單位投資門檻。因此，例如，以前，50% 的門檻是 2023 年至 2025 年每年增長 6%。然後是 1% 的增長。我只是想知道投資者是否有任何理由不應將其視為您對 24 和 25 年收入增長充滿信心的跡象。

Omar, thanks for the question. We're not going to comment further on decisions made by the Board in terms of the compensation committee. What I would say is that the market today is more challenging than it was just a few years ago in terms of growth for the overall market. That being said, as we mentioned earlier on the call, we have seen over the last few months, continued positive progression.

奧馬爾，謝謝你的提問。我們不會進一步評論董事會在薪酬委員會方面做出的決定。我要說的是，就整體市場的增長而言，今天的市場比幾年前更具挑戰性。話雖這麼說，正如我們早些時候在電話會議上提到的那樣，我們在過去幾個月中看到了持續的積極進展。

Okay. And if I could just ask one follow-up on a different topic. Maybe since you guys are the experts and you see so many games across the industry, can you give us a sense of just kind of thinking game-theory here, what's the end game for the mobile gaming market? Is this a market that we'll see a lot of exits in a couple of years if things kind of don't turn around on the marketing side and the user acquisition side? Or should we think that all of these smaller studios and smaller games will be acquired I guess, how does competition eventually play in? And what happens to capital in this industry over the next, I would say, 2 to 3 years? Is it an extinction event? Or is it just going to be consolidation? Or will simply smaller studios just accept low returns on capital?

好的。如果我可以問一個關於不同主題的後續問題。也許因為你們是專家，而且你們在整個行業看到了這麼多遊戲，你們能否在這裡給我們一種思考博弈論的感覺，移動遊戲市場的最終遊戲是什麼？如果營銷方面和用戶獲取方面的情況沒有好轉，我們是否會在幾年內看到很多退出的市場？或者我們應該認為所有這些較小的工作室和較小的遊戲都將被收購，我猜，競爭最終會如何進行？在接下來的 2 到 3 年裡，這個行業的資本會發生什麼變化？是滅絕事件嗎？還是只是整合？還是規模較小的工作室會接受低資本回報率？

We see mobile as the dominant form factor for video gaming going forward. I mean if you look at people today, everyone has a phone in their hand, children have phones in their hand as everyone gets older, that's going to be the device they use to communicate with, play games with and conduct commerce with. So I think as we look at the fact that we have 9 titles in the top 100 that we continue to grow our market share in the mobile gaming market. Our view is that it's going to continue to be a highly strategic asset owning mobile games and owning market share within the top grossing apps in the App Store. So I think there will be continued consolidation, just given how difficult it is to launch mobile franchises at scale today. And so those that have long-lasting franchises with great brands, we'll continue to have real value.

我們認為移動設備是未來視頻遊戲的主要形式因素。我的意思是，如果你看看今天的人，每個人手裡都有一部手機，隨著年齡的增長，孩子們手裡也拿著手機，這將是他們用來交流、玩遊戲和進行商務活動的設備。所以我認為，當我們看到我們在前 100 名中有 9 個遊戲時，我們將繼續擴大我們在移動遊戲市場的市場份額。我們的觀點是，它將繼續成為一項具有高度戰略意義的資產，擁有手機遊戲，並在 App Store 最暢銷的應用程序中擁有市場份額。因此，考慮到如今大規模推出移動特許經營權有多麼困難，我認為將會繼續整合。因此，那些擁有偉大品牌的長期特許經營權的人，我們將繼續擁有真正的價值。

Craig, I apologize for just clarifying the question. How do you see the level of competition within the industry as you go forward? And the reason I asked about potential exits as you would assume as an investor, if exits increase, competition would fall and potentially your market share would grow as well as profitability in the industry. That's really what I was getting at is the intensity of competition as if the environment doesn't improve.

克雷格，我很抱歉只是澄清了這個問題。在您前進的過程中，您如何看待行業內的競爭水平？我詢問潛在退出的原因，正如你作為投資者所假設的那樣，如果退出增加，競爭就會下降，你的市場份額可能會增加，同時行業的盈利能力也會增加。這就是我真正理解的是競爭的激烈程度，就好像環境沒有改善一樣。

I think the theme of consolidation is a good theme and that you'll continue to see consolidation in the industry, in terms of competitive dynamics beyond that, it's hard to comment.

我認為整合的主題是一個很好的主題，你會繼續看到行業的整合，除此之外的競爭動態方面，很難發表評論。

Our next question comes from Aaron Lee with Macquarie.

我們的下一個問題來自麥格理的 Aaron Lee。

So we're nearing the second anniversary of IDFA deprecation and you've noted in your remarks that CPIs remain elevated. So has any of your thinking changed around cross-sell between your games or any other strategies to kind of supplement the paying user acquisition funnel?

因此，我們已接近 IDFA 棄用兩週年，您在評論中註意到 CPI 仍然處於高位。那麼，圍繞遊戲之間的交叉銷售或任何其他策略來補充付費用戶獲取渠道，您的想法是否發生了變化？

It's [Nieder, Playtika CMO]. So basically, we keep with the same strategy. It's a new era. We learn how to measure things, how to optimizing differently, and the fact that we have a very divest portfolio with lots of different sources and also we leverage mass market media in order to get great results. That's basically how we tackle the IOS area. In addition to that, we leverage also internal AI capabilities that give us the flexibility and give us the opportunity basically, to being very aggressive on opportunities in the market, and we all keep buying whatever we can in our IOS.

是 [Nieder，Playtika CMO]。所以基本上，我們保持相同的策略。這是一個新時代。我們學習如何衡量事物，如何以不同方式進行優化，以及我們擁有大量不同來源的非常分散的投資組合這一事實，並且我們還利用大眾市場媒體以獲得出色的結果。這基本上就是我們處理 IOS 領域的方式。除此之外，我們還利用內部 AI 功能，這些功能為我們提供了靈活性並基本上為我們提供了機會，可以非常積極地抓住市場上的機會，並且我們都在 IOS 中繼續購買我們可以購買的任何東西。

Okay. Got you. As a follow-up, in the past, you've talked about the early success you've had with localizing some of your game titles. Can you just talk about whether this is still an opportunity? Or do you have other priorities right now?

好的。明白了作為後續行動，過去，您談到了您在本地化一些遊戲名稱方面取得的早期成功。你能談談這是否仍然是一個機會嗎？或者你現在有其他優先事項嗎？

So obviously, we are always looking for opportunity where we can increase our market share if we see an opportunity in a specific market where we have a localized game. It's also something that we look at. So we did something on the path, and we'll continue exploring this furthermore.

很明顯，如果我們在擁有本地化遊戲的特定市場中看到機會，我們一直在尋找可以增加市場份額的機會。這也是我們關注的事情。所以我們在這條路上做了一些事情，我們將繼續進一步探索。

Our next question comes from Eric Handler with Roth MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 Eric Handler 和 Roth MKM。

Two questions. First, as you look at the social casino business, do you have any sense of when revenue might stabilize?

兩個問題。首先，當您審視社交賭場業務時，您是否知道收入何時會穩定下來？

Eric, thanks for the question. I think we've already started to see the stabilization in Q4. If you look at Slotomania, Slotomania in the quarter was down 0.6% sequentially. So real stabilization there, and we've been seeing positive trending with those titles.

埃里克，謝謝你的提問。我認為我們已經開始看到第四季度的穩定。如果你看一下 Slotomania，本季度的 Slotomania 環比下降了 0.6%。那裡真的很穩定，我們一直看到這些頭銜的積極趨勢。

Okay. And then (inaudible) looking at your costs, so can you quantify how much were you expecting to spend in 2023 on new game launches? And does that -- with the suspension of new game launches, does that money just go right to savings? Or are you reallocating those dollars?

好的。然後（聽不清）查看您的成本，那麼您能否量化您預計在 2023 年在新遊戲發布上花費多少？那麼，隨著新遊戲發布的暫停，這筆錢會直接用於儲蓄嗎？還是您要重新分配這些美元？

So that's all reflected in our guidance that we provided in terms of our guidance range for this year. So it's baked in. And so we don't have that new game spending. But obviously, there's no revenue associated with those titles either, but both are baked into the top line and bottom line guidance for next year.

因此，這都反映在我們根據今年的指導範圍提供的指導中。所以它已經融入其中。所以我們沒有新的遊戲支出。但顯然，這些遊戲也沒有相關收入，但它們都包含在明年的頂線和底線指導中。

(Operator Instructions) Our next Question comes from Clark Lampen With bTIG.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Clark Lampen 和 bTIG。

Craig, I know you don't guide specifically to quarters, but I'm curious whether you could help us with directional assumptions. It sounds like based upon comments that you made so far, maybe we should expect a more stable, I guess, first half and greater back half sequential improvement. Is that right? And as it relates to the end of year workforce adjustments that you guys are -- that you made in December, I assume we'll see the full impact of that in Q1. Should we expect relatively flat expenses from there forward?

克雷格，我知道你不會專門指導宿舍，但我很好奇你是否可以幫助我們進行方向假設。這聽起來像是基於你到目前為止所做的評論，也許我們應該期待一個更穩定的，我猜，前半部分和更大的後半部分順序改進。是對的嗎？由於這與你們在 12 月所做的年底勞動力調整有關，我認為我們將在第一季度看到它的全部影響。我們是否應該期望未來的支出相對平穩？

Sure. So in terms of seasonality, the only consistent trend is that the summer months are seasonally weak relative to the rest of the year. I don't think there's any other specific guidance we'll kind of provide in terms of quarter-to-quarter. And then in terms of cost savings initiatives, the majority of that will be realized starting in Q1. So we'll see that going forward. And obviously, there's a focus throughout the company on cost management.

當然。因此，就季節性而言，唯一一致的趨勢是夏季相對於一年中的其他月份而言季節性較弱。我不認為我們會按季度提供任何其他具體指導。然後就成本節約計劃而言，其中大部分將在第一季度開始實現。所以我們會看到這一點。顯然，整個公司都在關注成本管理。

And that concludes the Q&A session. And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

問答環節到此結束。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。