Snail returns to profitability in Q1 as revenue surges

Snail Inc (NASDAQ:SNAL) CFO Heidy Chow talked with Proactive about the company’s first quarter 2026 financial results, highlighting strong revenue growth, improved profitability and major operational progress across the business.

Chow said Snail delivered 36% revenue growth in the quarter ending March 31, driven by a combination of successful game launches, seasonal sales events and continued strength from the company’s Ark franchise. She explained that the operational team’s efforts over recent quarters are now translating into stronger financial performance.

The company benefited from winter sales promotions tied to Bellwright and Ark: Survival Evolved (ASE), with Chow noting that Ark continued to maintain a strong user base despite limited promotions over a long period. According to Chow, the winter sales campaign generated a significant increase in engagement and sales momentum.

Looking ahead, Snail expects 2026 to be an active year for releases and expansion opportunities. Chow discussed upcoming content including Genesis 1, a DLC attached to Ark: Survival Ascended (ASA), planned for release during the summer. She also referenced the planned release of Dragontopia later in the year, alongside progress on an internally developed title currently in development.

Proactive: Very welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Heidy Chow. She’s the chief financial officer for Snail Games USA. And Heidy, it’s great to see you again. How are you?

Heidy Chow: I’m good. How are you?

I’m good. Doing very well. Thanks for joining us. Excited to talk about your first quarter numbers ending March 31st for the company and very strong numbers, a 36% revenue growth. You return to profitability. As a chief financial officer, I imagine you’re very excited about what you’re seeing.

I am. This is actually after a few quarters of hard work from the operations team. We see that the numbers are moving in the right direction. We’re very excited about this quarter of strong revenue growth. Basically it’s from the operations team with all the different sales events that we had along with the new games that we released. So we are very, very excited.

The new games and the legacy games are both doing well. You’ve also been able to reduce costs during the quarter, which helped as well. Is it a combination of both that is really taking the company to this next step?

It is a combination of both. During the quarter we had a few events that happened during Q1 of 2026. We did a winter sale. We also had one of our games, Bellwright, included in the winter sale, which gave us a tremendous uptake. From our Ark IP, we noticed that for a very long time we hadn’t done promotions for ASE. In Q1 of 2026 we still saw a very strong user base, and after the winter sale the growth was very strong.

The continued strength of Ark and that franchise obviously shows within the numbers. But you also talk about the rest of 2026 and the potential for new games, new ideas and new markets. It seems like there are a lot of things you hope to build on in 2026.

That’s correct. 2026 is going to be a very busy year for us. In the summer of this year we will have Genesis 1 released, which is one of the DLCs attached to the ASA game. Toward the end of the year we also have Dragontopia releasing. On top of that, we also have an internally developed game that the team is working diligently on. We’re hoping that game will be released either at the end of this year or next year.

Lastly, I mentioned the cost savings and the franchise games that are doing well. Do you feel that, as CFO, you’ve put the company in a great position now to continue the growth you’ve already seen and potentially even more growth ahead this year?

Definitely. In Q2, at the beginning of April, we negotiated a new licensing agreement with our related party. We were able to reduce our monthly license costs by almost $500,000 per month, which is a $6 million reduction in cost annually. That’s a huge savings to the company.

Exciting times ahead, is that right?

That’s absolutely correct because we’re very excited seeing the company’s numbers. We are bringing net income to the company while remaining very cost-driven and conscious about what we spend, while also focusing on top-line growth.

Incredible growth — 36% revenue growth and returning to profitability as I mentioned. Heidy, thank you so much. Really good update. I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style