Aristocrat Leisure hit with $74m Big Fish impairment charge after cuts

Australian casino firm Aristocrat Leisure has recorded a AU$114.9 million ($74m) impairment loss following its restructuring of subsidiary Big Fish Games. 

That’s according to the company’s latest financials following the decision announced earlier this year to reduce the publisher’s portfolio, significantly cut investment and halt new game development at Big Fish as it focuses on evergreen titles.

Following operational changes at Big Fish, an impairment loss before tax of AU$114.9m ($74m) has been recorded. The impairment included AU$65.8m ($42m) against goodwill, AU$27.5m ($18m) against intangible assets and AU$21.6m ($14m) against other assets. 

Aristocrat Leisure said that since all remaining Big Fish assets have been fully impaired, no further losses will occur. The company had previously acquired Big Fish in an all-cash deal for $990m.

The casino firm previously sold another of its games studios, Plarium, to MTG in a $620m deal.

Games business returns

Product Madness, now the umbrella for Aristocrat Leisure’s remaining games division, saw more than 5% revenue growth to AU$901m ($582m) in the six months ending March 31st, 2025. Aristocrat Interactive, its online games division, surged 141% to AU$263.6m ($170m).

Overall, the company reported operating revenue of AU$3 billion ($1.94bn) for the period, a 9% increase compared to the previous period. Furthermore, EBITDA rose by nearly 13% to AU$1.25bn ($808m).

“This was a positive result, illustrating the quality of Aristocrat’s portfolio and ability to grow through different operating environments while also investing for the future,” said Aristocrat Leisure CEO and managing director Trevor Croker. 

“We completed the divestiture of Plarium in the reporting period and refocused our mobile operations around our core Product Madness social casino business, in line with Aristocrat’s refreshed growth strategy. 

“We also invested in aligning technology and product strategies, and took important steps to set up Aristocrat Interactive to accelerate its performance and allow us to extract more benefit and momentum from our scale and capabilities.

“I am excited that we now have three focused and fully complementary business lines, united by a common core of great gaming content and each offering exciting growth prospects. We continue to actively pursue strategic M&A opportunities, in a disciplined and consistent manner.”