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Capcom sales fall in 1st fiscal quarter, income rises
Capcom has reported financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2011, which ended June 30. The company reported sales of ¥11.95 billion ($153.7 million), down from ¥19.04 billion ($244.91 million) during the same period last year -- a 37 percent decrease. Despite the dip in sales, Capcom managed to pull in a net income of ¥338 million ($4.35 million), up by 58 percent from ¥213 million ($2.74 million) during the same period last year. Sales of "consumer online games" fell sharply, with Capcom stating that Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Monster Hunter Freedom 3 and Monster Hunter Frontier Online Forward "basically" met sales projections. Specifically, The Mercenaries 3D – available since June 2 in Japan and since June 28 in the US – moved 400,000 units. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade, only available as DLC for a few days in June, sold 300,000. Monster Hunter Freedom 3 still managed to move 100,000 copies despite being released all the way back in December. Meanwhile, Capcom's arcade sales were up eight percent despite the difficulties faced after Japan's earthquake earlier this year. Social games are also doing quite well for the company, cresting 19 million downloads largely on the back of Smurf's Village.
'PSP Remaster' series coming to PS3 in Japan, starting with Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
In the wee hours of the morning, Sony Computer Entertainment announced a program which could make several of its popular properties even more profitable: A "PSP Remaster" series, which will port select PSP titles to Blu-ray on PS3. The first entry in the series, which has only been confirmed for the Japanese market, is Capcom's bone-collecting action-RPG Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, which will be infused with a booster shot of "more gorgeous and vibrant" visuals. The series' press release announcement says these PSP ports will be completely compatible with their portable counterparts, allowing players to transfer save data between the two versions, or play with nearby friends using ad-hoc mode on the PS3. The press release also mentions that some games might feature "new add-on content or stereoscopic 3D support" -- however, no other games or North American launch details have been announced. We've got our fingers crossed for some timely E3 elucidation.
Capcom profits soar with help from record AAA game sales
Good ol' video games came through for Capcom over the twelve months ending March 31, 2011. The company reported "a history-making milestone" of five million-seller titles in the period, with Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (4.6 million units shipped) leading the pack. Additionally, Dead Rising 2 (2.2M units), Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2M units), Super Street Fighter IV (1.6M units) and Lost Planet 2 (1.5M units) racked up high shipment numbers, and each surpassed the million-mark in pure sales. In all, net sales in Capcom's "Consumer Online Games" division increased 60.8 percent over the previous fiscal year to ¥70.3 billion (about $873 million). But the sales success of so-called "major titles" wasn't the only contributing factor in Capcom's record bottom line for a fiscal year, which showed a net income increase of 257.6 percent over the previous year to ¥7.75 billion -- roughly $96.3 million in profit! Despite reported losses of ¥1.45 billion due to restructuring and another ¥105 million filed under "disaster" -- the Great East Japan Earthquake knocked out ten of Capcom's arcades -- all of the company's business units recorded operating income gains for the year. Notably, the "Mobile Contents" division enjoyed some highlights, with downloads of The Smurfs' Village Facebook game exceeding expectations "by far" and the Japan-only iPhone version of Ghost Trick faring "well." Capcom tempered its jubilation, however, noting that the forecast for the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2012) calls for "lower sales and earnings." The company anticipates "immeasurable economic losses" in Japan due to the earthquake and its aftermath, as well as a "downturn in consumer confidence" in the game industry at large -- not to mention Capcom's weaker offering of AAA titles this year. Dead Rising 2 ... again? "We will focus more than ever before on our global operations as the environment surrounding the industry rapidly changes," Capcom said, observing that "the rise of social games [is] fueling the growth of new competitors in the industry."
Monster Hunter again captures 'center stage' in Capcom 9-month fiscal report
At this time last year, Capcom was thanking Monster Hunter Tri for helping the company boost its 2009 year-end financial results. Today, Capcom heralded the monstrous shipments of Monster Hunter Freedom 3 that closed out 2010 and propelled the publisher's profits up nearly 300 percent in a nine-month period. During the first three quarters of its current fiscal year (which ends March 31, 2011), Capcom netted ¥6.836 billion (nearly $84 million) in profit -- up from just ¥1.731 the same period the year before. Sales of "Consumer Online Games" (what we call "video games," excluding mobile content) were the driving force, totaling ¥54.057 billion ($663.6 million) -- a bit more than 76 percent of total sales for the business, which includes arcade and amusement ("slot machine") operations. Joining Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (currently only available in Japan), Capcom noted three additional "million-sellers" in the nine-month period (April–December 2010): Dead Rising 2 (with more than 2 million units shipped); Super Street Fighter IV (1.6 million units shipped "mainly to Europe and the United States"); and Lost Planet 2 (1.5 million sold -- "though the figure was less than [the] projected shipment"). During the period, Capcom also worked on "rebuilding the development departments comprising our core competence" in an effort to shift greater resources to its mobile operations, with specific focus on social gaming. Sales of "Mobile Contents" for the three quarters amounted to a modest ¥2.383 billion ($29.25 million), led by a bevy of iPhone releases and some "positive surprises," including the popularity of The Smurfs' Village on Facebook. And Capcom hasn't even accounted for all the MaXplosion press in January yet!
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd ships 2nd million units in Japan
Capcom announced today that its Monster Hunter series is still capturing the attention of Japanese gamers, as Monster Hunter Portable 3rd -- which will go by the international title Monster Hunter Freedom 3 -- has shipped two million units during its first week in the region. According to Capcom, the franchise has sold over 15 million units since 2004. Wii-exclusive Monster Hunter Tri did well in the region, but clearly not as well as its portable counterpart. There's currently no announcement of when portable monster hunters outside of Japan can get their 3rd fix.
Capcom counting on 2M sales for MvC 3, accelerating R&D change after Inafune departure
Capcom has high hopes for two major titles lined up for the second half of its fiscal year. The company expects the Japanese release of Monster Hunter Freedom 3 on PSP to move a whopping 3.6 million units which, given the portable series' sales history, isn't unreasonable. Capcom also expects to move 2 million units worldwide with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in Spring 2011. The publisher also stated that the departure of Managing Corporate Officer Keiji Inafune has accelerated the company's overhaul of its R&D organization. Originally planned for the next fiscal year (starting April 2011), the shift will attempt to adjust for the "unprecedented period of volatile change" occurring in the industry. The company views "social networking service" games as a business opportunity and plans to "swiftly form an organization and formulate strategies to address" changes. The company also did some other executive shuffling to streamline its R&D to "enable Capcom to adapt to markets that are becoming increasingly larger and more complex." %Gallery-91173%
