Snail (NASDAQ:SNAL) executives used the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call to highlight major content milestones for the ARK franchise, outline a multi-year release roadmap through 2027, and review a year marked by lower reported revenue but higher bookings and unit sales. Management also discussed changes to the company’s internal development approach and provided updates on several in-development “triple-A” projects.
ARK content milestones and player metrics
Senior Vice President and Director of Business Development and Operations Peter Kang said 2025 was a “pivotal year” for Snail and the ARK franchise, citing the December launch of the ARK: Lost Colony DLC as a key inflection point for ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA). Kang described Lost Colony as the first major standalone DLC built specifically to expand the ASA universe, adding that pre-sale demand exceeded internal projections.
- ASA: approximately 692,000 units sold in Q4; average daily active users (DAU) of over 91,000; peak DAU of over 147,000.
- ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE): approximately 580,000 units sold in Q4; average DAU of roughly 105,000; peak DAU of about 137,000.
- ARK Mobile: surpassed 10 million cumulative downloads; average DAU of approximately 130,000.
Management said ASA will be “at the center” of the next phase for ARK as Snail enters what Kang called a content-rich and strategically important period.
Release roadmap through 2027
At a December 2025 investor day, Snail said it presented a multi-year content roadmap for ASA that includes several major DLCs and expansions. Kang said the company’s planned 2026 releases include four major DLCs and content updates: ARK: Survival of the Fittest Remake, ARK: World Creator, ARK: Bob’s True Tales – Tides of Fortune, and ARK: Dragontopia.
For 2027, Kang said the company plans to launch ARK: Atlantis, ARK: Bob’s True Tales – Galaxy Wars, and ARK: Legacy of Santiago. He characterized the seven planned releases as an ambitious expansion cycle that provides “meaningful revenue visibility through 2027.”
Kang also shared additional timing details discussed at a private event held during the 2026 Game Developers Conference. He said ARK: World Creator, an in-game tool intended to expand user-generated content access to console players (and not positioned as a paid DLC), is targeted for a May release. He said Bob’s True Tales – Tides of Fortune is scheduled for June, alongside a free revamped Genesis: Part 1 map for ASA, while Dragontopia is scheduled for December 2026.
Separately, Kang said Snail introduced PixARK: Worlds, a title in development aimed at expanding the ARK universe onto the Nintendo Switch 2 console with advanced user-generated content.
Portfolio updates beyond ARK
Beyond ARK, Kang highlighted Snail’s indie and broader portfolio. He said the company unveiled Gobby Gang at GDC and referenced additional indie titles in the pipeline including Stoneguard, Above the Snow, and Survivor Mercs. Kang also said Bellwright surpassed 1 million units sold.
Looking to 2026, management said Bellwright is expected to receive console ports to Xbox and PlayStation, while the team works toward an eventual 1.0 release. Kang also said Honeycomb is slated for a full 1.0 launch in 2026 across PC and console.
Kang and CFO Heidy Chow also referenced progress on three developing “triple-A” projects: For the Stars, Nayan Sutra: Immortal, and Nayan Sutra: Wushu. Kang said these projects are in the “final stages” of their development cycle, with additional updates expected through 2026 and into 2027.
Financial results: Q4 revenue down year over year, bookings up
CFO Heidy Chow reported fourth-quarter net revenue of $25.1 million, down from $26.2 million a year earlier. She attributed the decrease primarily to a $3.5 million decline in deferred revenues recognized during 2025, partially offset by higher sales from the ARK franchise ($1.3 million) and Bellwright ($1.2 million). Sequentially, Chow said Q4 net revenue rose 82% from $13.8 million in Q3 2025.
For the full year, Chow reported net revenue of $81.2 million, compared with $84.5 million in 2024. She said the decline was driven primarily by a $15.5 million decrease in deferred revenue recognition related to the ARK franchise, as well as lower Bellwright and Myths of Empire sales, partly offset by increased ASE sales ($11.3 million), ARK Mobile sales ($2.4 million), and $800,000 of revenue from the Salty TV app.
Snail posted a Q4 net loss of $900,000, versus net income of $1.1 million a year ago. Chow said the change was primarily due to a decrease in gross profit and higher operating expenses, partially offset by higher other income and an income tax benefit. She noted the net loss improved sequentially from a $7.9 million net loss in Q3.
For the full year, Snail reported a net loss of $27.2 million, compared with net income of $1.8 million in 2024. Chow attributed the loss largely to a $10.1 million non-cash tax expense related to the full valuation of deferred tax assets, as well as higher general and administrative expenses, research and development, advertising and marketing, and $1.5 million in impairment expenses.
EBITDA was a loss of $1.3 million in Q4, compared with a loss of $1.6 million a year earlier, with Chow citing higher operating expenses. For the full year, EBITDA was a loss of $16.8 million, compared with $3.2 million in 2024, driven by higher operating costs and impairment expenses.
Chow said total units sold for the year increased 32.7% to 6.3 million units, primarily due to an additional 1.7 million units sold across the ARK franchise. She also reported Q4 bookings of $20.8 million, up from $17.0 million a year earlier, and full-year bookings of $87.8 million, up 16.2% from $75.7 million. Chow said the increase was driven by ASE sales tied to ARK: Lost Colony, ARK: Astraeus, and an ASE sales event in June 2025.
As of December 31, 2025, Chow said restricted cash was $8.6 million, up from $7.3 million a year earlier. In response to a question, Chow said deferred revenue was “around $30 million,” referencing the company’s Form 10-K.
Development pipeline, technology changes, and other initiatives
During Q&A, CEO Hai Shi (through a translator) discussed efforts begun after he became full-time CEO in 2024 to shift Snail from primarily publishing external games toward building internal production pipelines. He said For the Stars initially used Snail’s proprietary Flexi Engine for development, citing strengths in server management, big data processing, and data security, but noted disadvantages relative to Unreal Engine in rendering and efficiency.
Shi said the company moved to Unreal Engine at the end of 2024 while continuing to use Flexi Engine on the server side, and he said the game has now fully upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.7. Shi stated the company does not see a technical gap in game development “anymore.”
Shi said For the Stars has been in development for about three years and is in a final production stage, with external testing anticipated by the end of 2026. He also said both Nayan Sutra: Immortal and Nayan Sutra: Wushu are expected to enter testing in 2026 and be showcased at events including Bilibili World, ChinaJoy, and Gamescom.
Chow also highlighted the company’s interactive films business, saying Salty TV had released over 100 short film dramas by the end of Q4 and expanded into narrative-driven game development. She additionally noted that Snail “minted the first official USDO stablecoin” during its December investor day and is working toward a potential partnership tied to the stablecoin business, with more details expected later in 2026.
About Snail (NASDAQ:SNAL)
Snail Inc (NASDAQ: SNAL) is a digital entertainment company focused on the development, publishing and operation of free-to-play online games for PC and mobile platforms. The company’s portfolio spans a variety of genres that include massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), strategy titles, and casual mobile games. Snail manages its games throughout the entire lifecycle, providing design, development, server hosting and community support services to engage players worldwide.
Founded in the early 2000s and headquartered in Xiamen, China, Snail has expanded its footprint with regional offices in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia.
