fiscal-2010
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NCsoft's Lineage enjoys record year, Aion growth boosts total revenue
It's been an up and down year for NCsoft, literally. GamesIndustry.biz writes that the Korean MMO titan has reported increases in both its sales and operating profits but a drop in net income in the recently concluded fiscal 2010 period. Surprisingly, the company's total revenue was up two percent due to unprecedented sales of the 12-year-old Lineage MMORPG. Much to the chagrin of fail-trolls across the internet, NCsoft has also publicized the fact that Aion continues to be a financial success after "recording consecutive growth for the last three years." Taken together, NCsoft's big three (Lineage, Lineage 2, and Aion) have now accounted for $2.7 billion in lifetime sales. NCsoft's largest success came courtesy of the booming Korean market (which represented a $370 million cut of its $576 million total revenue). Next up was the Japanese market at $70 million, followed by North America at $43.4 million and Europe at $30.1 million.
Sega expects profits in fiscal Q4 2010 forecast
Sega recently posted quite the surprise for its investors: a revised earnings forecast. In an interesting turn of events, Sega has foregone the doom and gloom of having to admit it will likely earn less money during its Q4 2010 forecast -- the period between December 2009 and March 2010 -- for something a bit more on the cheery side: profits! First, Sega estimates net sales of ¥380 billion ($4.08 billion), a 9.5 percent decline from its previous estimate of ¥420 billion ($4.51 billion) -- wait, we thought we had good news in here? Aha! Here it is: net income. Sega previously forecast net income of ¥15 billion ($161 million), but has now adjusted that to ¥18 billion ($193 million). This spontaneous spike in cash money is attributed to "improved profit margins in the pachislot and pachinko machine business and amusement machine business." We imagine sales of Bayonetta and Aliens vs Predator also helped. And in case you're wondering what the difference between net sales and net income is: Net sales accounts for the total profits a company makes based on the products it sells, while net income takes into account net sales and other operating costs, such as licensing fees and taxes. [Via GameSpot]
Borderlands getting more DLC
Hidden in a dark, damp crevice of the Take-Two mega-mountain of news today was a brief, albeit interesting, comment from Ben Feder, president and CEO. After referencing the success of Gearbox's Borderlands, Feder stated that Take-Two "will continue to support the title with add-on content." So, if you've finished The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot and The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, expect more soon. But, where will our intrepid foursome go next?
EA drops fiscal year outlook
Following its announcement of NBA Jam, EA sent out another press release that's likely to elicit a much more somber "boom-shaka-laka." The mega-pubisher adjusted its estimate for earnings for both its fiscal Q3 2010 (which ended on December 31) and the full fiscal 2010 (which ends March 31). It's ... not good news. EA reduced its net revenue for Q3 from $1.247 billion to $1.227 billion, and its fiscal 2010 expectations to between $3.6 billion and $3.675 billion, down from a range of $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion. The publisher attributed these losses to "weakness for EA and the overall packaged goods sector in Europe in December," as well as a shift in its product lineup toward lower-margin titles -- which, we assume, refers to products like the Rock Band line, which have big boxes and big music licensing payouts.
