Snail (NASDAQ:SNAL) reported higher first-quarter revenue and a return to profitability as continued demand for its ARK franchise, growth from Bellwright and deferred revenue recognition helped lift results.
On the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Heidy Chow said net revenue rose 35.7% to $27.3 million, compared with $20.1 million in the prior-year period. The increase was primarily tied to $4.2 million of higher revenue from ARK: Survival Ascended, or ASA, $2.1 million of higher revenue from Bellwright and a $2.5 million increase in deferred revenue recognized during the period. Those gains were partially offset by lower revenue from ARK Mobile and ARK: Survival Evolved, or ASE.
ARK Franchise Remains Core Growth Driver
Peter Kang, Snail’s senior vice president and director of business development and operations, said engagement across the ARK franchise remained consistent during the quarter. ASE sold more than 573,000 units, with average daily active users of 117,000 and peak daily active users of 143,000. ASA had average daily active users of 127,000 and peak daily active users of 188,000.
ASA total units sold rose to 1.4 million for the quarter, supported in part by the Steam Winter event and momentum from the December 2025 launch of the ARK: Lost Colony DLC, Kang said. ARK Mobile had approximately 11.9 million total downloads as of quarter-end, with average daily active users of more than 141,000.
Chow said total units sold increased 42.6% to 2.2 million from 1.5 million a year earlier, driven primarily by an increase of 500,000 units from ARK franchise intellectual properties and 200,000 units from Bellwright. Bookings, a non-GAAP measure, increased 21.1% to $26.9 million from $22.2 million, helped by stronger sales promotions, momentum from ARK: Lost Colony and a late-2025 Bellwright content update.
Upcoming ARK Content Includes Genesis, Tides of Fortune
Kang outlined several planned ASA updates for 2026. In May, Snail plans to release the Fantastic Tames Season 1 expansion pack. In June, the company plans to release ARK: Tides of Fortune, a new ASA DLC, along with the official launch of the ASA remake of ARK: Genesis Part 1. Kang said the Genesis release will allow the company to recognize approximately $11 million in revenue from deferred revenue at the time of release.
During the question-and-answer session, Kang said Snail has about 11 internally developed ARK-related and other projects planned, including three new tames for Fantastic Tames Season 1, another Bob’s Tall Tales pack, ASA Genesis Part 1, a rerelease of ARK: Survival of the Fittest for ASA, a project called ASA World Creator and ARK Dragontopia planned for December. He also said Bellwright console ports are expected for PlayStation and Xbox this year, along with an internally developed project named Gobby Game and six additional licensed IP releases.
Kang also noted that Snail amended its exclusive software license agreements for ARK: Survival Ascended earlier in the month. Under the amended terms, annual licensing fees will be reduced by $6 million going forward. He said the company intends to reinvest those savings into the business, particularly toward development of upcoming titles.
Snail Highlights Three AAA Titles in Development
Management emphasized that Snail is working to expand beyond ARK into multiple franchises. Kang said three AAA titles — For The Stars, Nine Yin Sutra: Immortal and Nine Yin Sutra: Wushu — have entered the final phases of development and are designed for multiyear lifespans.
For The Stars is being developed as a “galactic scale conquest and grand strategy experience,” Kang said, with an initial focus on single-player and four-to-six-player co-op gameplay. The longer-term vision is for the game to evolve into an MMO-style ecosystem. Kang said the title draws comparisons to EVE in strategy scope while emphasizing hands-on exploration, construction and progression, with gameplay elements he compared to No Man’s Sky and Satisfactory.
The two Nine Yin Sutra titles are tied to the company’s Age of Wushu franchise, which Kang said accumulated more than 85 million registered accounts across PC and mobile. Nine Yin Sutra: Wushu is positioned as the closer sequel to Age of Wushu and is being built on Unreal Engine 5 as an MMORPG in the wuxia genre. Nine Yin Sutra: Immortal is focused on the cultivation genre, which Kang described as a wuxia-adjacent category centered on progressive development of supernatural power.
Kang said more information on Nine Yin Sutra: Wushu is expected during Gamescom, while additional details on Nine Yin Sutra: Immortal are planned for Bilibili World and ChinaJoy later this year.
SaltyTV and Stablecoin Updates
In response to analyst questions, Kang provided an update on SaltyTV, Snail’s short-form video business. He said the app has launched more than 49 internally developed IPs to date, while the total number of IPs in 2026 has grown to 279 through licensing and other acquisition channels. Kang said the app had more than 6,000 subscribers on half-year or annual plans and more than 400,000 total downloads across iOS and Android as of May 12, 2026.
Chow also said the SaltyTV strategy includes combining dramas with interactive games. She said the company is looking to release two interactive games this year, with an internal development cycle of about seven to eight months. She said the company has “high confidence” in their potential performance and referenced projections of 1 million units sold.
Kang also discussed Snail’s USDO stablecoin initiative, saying the project is moving from the build phase toward launch readiness. He said platform infrastructure is “functionally complete” across wallet management, on-chain minting and burning, blockchain transfers and KYC verification. Kang said money transmitter license applications are progressing across multiple states, while compliance work is being finalized with legal counsel. He also said Snail expects USDO to launch through channels including the Nitrado Digital Warehouse and a crypto ATM network prototype currently built for internal testing.
As of March 31, Snail had unrestricted cash of $14.3 million, up from $8.6 million at the end of 2025. Chow said the company remains focused on ARK execution while preparing for a broader revenue mix as its larger titles move toward release.
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.
