fy-2010
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Take-Two Q2 revenue up to $268M, BioShock 2 sales 'lower than expected'
Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two has announced its financial results for its second fiscal quarter, which ended April 30, 2010. Net revenue of $268 million represented an increase of 54 percent over the $174.3 million recorded during the same quarter last year; a change that Take-Two attributes to sales of Major League Baseball 2K10, as well as the introduction of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City to PlayStation 3 and PC. In a related investor call, Take-Two Chief Financial Officer Lainie Goldstein noted that 32 perecent of revenue was driven by the publisher's catalog titles, including NBA 2K10 and Grand Theft Auto IV. And while BioShock 2 contributed to the increased revenue and became a profitable endeavor, Goldstein noted that the dystopian shooter incurred "lower than expected" sales. "The title was well-received by the media and was profitable for us," she said. "However, sales slowed down sooner than we had expected." Operating income for the quarter rose to $16.9 million (last year's second quarter represented a loss of $10.4 million), while total revenue for the company's first-half financial year totaled $431.2 million.
Red Dead Redemption a 'surprise' hit for GameStop
During an investors call today, GameStop executive VP of Merchandise and Markerting Tony Bartel mentioned that the company's recent earnings had been boosted by a title that apparently wasn't expected to be such a powerhouse. "Red Dead Redemption has been one of the very positive surprises," Bartel explained. "It probably has outperformed as large as any title has so far year-to-date." (Redemption was released this week, so presumably Bartel is largely referring to pre-order figures.) As we see it, this could mean one of two things: Either Red Dead Redemption is doing outrageously, phenomenally well, or GameStop didn't expect a game made by Rockstar, which had a marketing budget of a hojillion dollars, to have much sales power. Considering the company isn't run by baboons, we doubt it's the latter.
New game sales up in GameStop's fiscal Q1
GameStop reported earnings for its fiscal first quarter (February–April). Sales are up five percent over the first quarter of 2009, to $2.08 billion. Some of that growth is no doubt due to strong sales of new games. The retailer announced that new software sales increased 13.3 percent in the quarter -- a trend that the GameStop should be happy to see, now that EA and THQ are taking aim at the used games business. The company identified five games in particular that drove revenue growth: Battlefield Bad Company 2, God of War 3, Final Fantasy XIII, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, and BioShock 2. We all love buying sequels at GameStop, apparently.
SouthPeak made a molehill of profit last quarter
SouthPeak Interactive bounced back from a quarterly net loss of a couple million dollars, pocketing $192,000 in profit for the third quarter (January–March) of its fiscal year ending June 30 -- time to splurge on Charmin for the executive bathrooms! Despite the profit, net revenues during the quarter were down to $7.5 million, compared to $13.5 million during the Q3 last year. Total revenue for the first nine months of the fiscal year was reported to be $34 million, also down compared to the $39 million during the same period in fiscal 2009. With its legal issues apparently over, hopefully SouthPeak can focus on making its My Baby franchise grow up big and strong. The company also plans to build a better kingdom, announcing that it has acquired the rights to Firefly Studios' Stronghold 3.
Mario, Sonic, and Profits in Sega's fiscal 2010
Despite recent troubles in the North American and European branches, Sega overall had a good fiscal 2010, which ended March 31, financially speaking. The company as a whole saw its operating income rise to ¥36.7 billion ($397 million), a huge increase over fiscal 2009's operating income of 8.3 billion ($89.8 million). Operating income refers to profits minus expenses incurred in running the company -- in case you wondered why we picked up on that random statistic. The consumer games division made ¥6.3 billion ($68.2 million) in operating income, returning to profitability despite a year-over-year drop of 7.5%. The profits in this division were driven by ridiculously strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (6.53 million copies!), as well as million-plus sellers Aliens vs. Predator (1.69 million), Bayonetta (1.35 million), and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (1.07 million). Source [PDF] - Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2010 [Via Andriasang]
PS3 proved profitable in last Sony fiscal year
The PS3 was a bright spot for Sony in its fiscal year 2009 (ending March 31, 2010). Thanks to a strong yen and a rise in PS3 hardware sales (you go Slim!), the console finally became profitable for Sony at the tail end of the fiscal year, according to Reuters (via adriasang); despite the Networked Products & Services division, which includes games, seeing a decline in overall product sales. The division operated at a loss of ¥83.1 billion ($895 million), a marginal improvement over the previous year's ¥87.4 billion ($941 million) deficit. Still, Sony forecasts ¥160 billion ($1.7 billion) in company-wide operating profits for the current fiscal year (April 2010 – March 2011). PS3 revenue is expected to increase this fiscal year from reduced manufacturing costs and a concerted effort to increase unit sales, following a strong showing last holiday season and a new and effective ad campaign. According to Sony, the company managed to ship 13 million consoles in its 2009 fiscal year, up from 10.1 million in fiscal 2008. Mainichi reports (via adriasang) that Sony expects to increase PS3 hardware sales to 15 million units this fiscal year. However, PSP and PS2 hardware sales have shown decline. PSP sales, which totaled 9.9 million hardware units and 44.4 million software units in fiscal 2009, fell from previous fiscal year totals of 14.4 million hardware units and 50.3 million software units. PS2 sales in fiscal 2009 saw less of a percentage decline, totaling 7.3 million units sold; compared to 7.9 million units sold the previous fiscal year. PS2 software, however, experienced a sharp decline in sales, managing only 35.7 million software units sold as compared to fiscal 2008's 83.5 million units total. Source - Sony Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2010 [PDF] Source - PS3 Hardware Turns Profitable [andriasang.com]
EA posts $677 million loss in FY2010 alongside downed revenues
EA has reported the results for its fiscal year 2010, which ran from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, showing a downed revenue stream for the year and an improved loss. The company took in $3.654 billion (down from $4.212 billion in FY2009) and, measured against money spent, lost $677 million (an improvement from last year's $1.088 billion in losses). Additionally, Q4 2010, running from January 1 – March 31, 2010, saw $979 million come in, compared with $860 million in Q4 the previous fiscal year and $1.243 billion last quarter -- a profitable final quarter for the company, contrasting last year's Q4 loss of $42 million with $30 million earned. CFO Eric Brown said of the coming fiscal year, "We are affirming our FY11 and Q1 non-GAAP guidance and expect to grow profitably in the year ahead. Our digital businesses are expected to grow approximately 30 percent." For all of you wondering what that means in human speak, he's saying that, regardless of today's announcement, he's confident in what the company has predicted for the coming year (as you might imagine, EA predicts it's going to do better than last year). It also means that Brown and EA expect to see a lot more dollars coming in on the digital front in the coming year, a likely possibility given initiatives like Project Ten Dollar, the EA Sports Online Pass and the usual stream of DLC for new games.
Namco Bandai game segment records annual losses ... but Ben 10 sales soar!
Namco Bandai's "Content" segment, which combines its video game software and arcade machine products, recorded ¥6.86 billion ($74.68 million) in operating losses for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. The division proved the most costly for the company, which also runs a successful "Toys & Hobby" segment, in addition to several other businesses. Overall, Namco Bandai suffered ¥29.08 billion ($317.28 million) in net losses for fiscal 2010, but the company forecasts a modest turnaround in net income of ¥4.5 billion ($49.1 million) for the current fiscal year. The games segment, which this fiscal year includes the previously separate "Visual and Music Content" division, is forecast to post ¥3.5 billion ($38.19 million) in operating income over the next four quarters; aided by an estimated 90 game releases, which are predicted to bring in ¥88 billion ($960 million) in sales. In fiscal 2010, Namco Bandai software sales, which encompassed 86 titles (or 225, if you're counting localized versions), totaled 22.737 million units and ¥77 billion ($840 million); with portable games accounting for a significant 9.701 million units sold. Multiplatform versions of Ben 10 Alien Force and its sequel, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, in the US and Europe during the fiscal year, combined to sell 1.89 million copies alone. The console version of Tekken 6 was the publisher's only title to move more units than either of those two Ben 10 games. A third Ben 10 title, Protector of the Earth, added another 610,000 units sold in the fiscal year. Across all Namco Bandai products, "Ben 10" the franchise racked up ¥17.9 billion ($195.3 million) in sales. Not quite Mobile Suit Gundman numbers (¥34.6 billion), but still. Head past the break for the complete list of Namco Bandai's top-10 bestsellers and sales distribution by platform.
Activision Blizzard doubles profit in first quarter of 2010
Activision Blizzard beat out its own revenue estimates during the first quarter, taking in a whopping $1.3 billion in revenue. The company raised its forecast last month after the incredible launch of the Modern Warfare 2 "Stimulus Package" on Xbox 360, along with continued demand for MW2 and, naturally, that World of Warcraft phenomenon. The company earned $381 million in profit, generating over double the $189 million in profit it took in the same quarter last year. Activision plans to release Blur, Singularity, Shrek Forever After and Transformers: War For Cybertron over the next quarter. With that said, the company expects to bring in about $900 milllion -- lowering its expectations from the same quarter last year. The company maintains it'll still generate $4.2 billion in revenue for the year -- on par with last year -- but that could be the company just being coy (can a company be coy?) with Starcraft 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops and maybe, just maybe, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm this year.
THQ records turnaround fiscal year, still loses $9m
THQ lost $9.6 million in its 2010 fiscal year (ending March 31), but that's nothing compared to the $431.1 million it lost the previous fiscal year. Yeah, we'd say this qualifies as a decent start in the company's proposed turnaround. THQ's software sales rose 8 percent this past fiscal year, which begin in April 2009, to $899.1 million, having established, as CEO Brian Farrell puts it, "three major core game franchises" in UFC, Darksiders and Red Faction. In a conference call this afternoon, Farrell described fiscal 2010 as the company's turnaround year. Fiscal 2011 will be its "rebuilding" year, according to the CEO, and then 2012 should see the establishment of the fully operational and financially profitable "New THQ."
Xbox division posts $165 million profit in fiscal Q3 on strength of Xbox Live business
Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, the portion of the giant company responsible for Xbox operations (as well as Zune and Games for Windows) brought in $165 million in profits during the company's third quarter of fiscal 2010, which ended March 31. In the same period last year, the division lost $41 million. The soaring profits were a result of a record third-quarter revenue haul of $14.5 billion for Microsoft, with the E&D division accounting for $1.67 billion of that total. CFO Peter Klein cited Xbox Live as one of the factors responsible for the company's growth. In fact, Xbox Live, and the reduced cost of Xbox 360 manufacturing, helped the E&D division profit despite console shipments falling year-over-year, from 1.7 million shipments in Q3 of fiscal 2009 to 1.5 million in 2010. Tacking on to the last reported figures, Xbox 360 shipments have now surpassed 40 million units worldwide. With so many Xbox 360 units in the wild, Microsoft's Q3 Form 10-Q document [.docx] brings up a very good point: "Our hardware products such as the Xbox 360 console are highly complex and can have defects in design, manufacture, or associated software." You don't say.
Take-Two revenue up $14m, laying off 15% of execs
Take-Two has released its fiscal 2010 Q1 financial report, dropping always thrilling financial news on us about the company's performance between November 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010. Aside from a $13.8 million year-over-year increase in net revenue ($163.2 million this year over $149.4 million last year), Take-Two also reports a diminished net loss (again, year-over-year) to the tune of $20 million. Take-Two also updated investors on current sales of several games and franchises, with GTA IV chocking up "over 15 million units globally" to date, NBA 2K10 already shipping "over 2 million units," and Carnival Games accruing 6 million units sold worldwide across both Wii and DS platforms. That's gotta be helping with that improved bottom line, eh? Aside from those highlights, the investor report additionally notes plans for "a targeted restructuring of its corporate departments," resulting in a "15 percent reduction in corporate headcount." More shocking, the "restructuring" (read: layoffs) will amount to "approximately $8 million in savings in fiscal 2010." Holy cow!
Bioshock 2 has shipped over 3 million units
Take-Two has revealed in its latest fiscal earnings report that Bioshock 2 has managed to ship more than three million units worldwide since releasing on February 9. The report also says the first game has now sold over four million copies worldwide across all platforms, "bringing the total sales of the franchise to 7 million units." Of course, the important distinction here is that "shipped" does not equal "sold," as Take-Two infers above. Still, getting three million copies out there into the world is a pretty noteworthy feat. Get yourself a couple more million and you'll be able to finance construction on your own underwater metropolis -- not that any good could possibly come of it.
SouthPeak revenue down 42% year-over-year in second quarter of FY2010
Wake up! After that headline, we saw you start dozing and we wanted to make sure you were with us for the next hundred-ish words of pure, unbridled excitement. According to SouthPeak Interactive's fiscal 2010 second quarter financial results released this morning (which make up the last three months of calendar 2009, ending December 31), the publisher netted $10.1 million, a 42% decline from fiscal 2009's second quarter results of $17.3 million. In one of the report's few positive notes, company CEO Melanie Mroz notes that the My Baby franchise grew 45 percent "compared with the last holiday season" -- and we were so worried about SouthPeak's baby! Notably, the decline in revenue was blamed on "a decrease in the number of titles released in the fiscal 2010 period." Also, the games that the company did publish weren't the pricier Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles. We've got a free solution for you though, SouthPeak -- My Baby Next-Gen: Future Baby for the aforementioned consoles. That one's for free, guys. The next one'll cost ya.
Disney Interactive to be more 'judicious' with HD games as losses abate
Though Disney's gaming division saw improved operating results during the company's first fiscal quarter of 2010 (which ended January 2) -- a loss of $10 million compared to a $45 million loss in Q1 the previous fiscal year -- CEO Robert Iger has maintained a prudent stance on upcoming projects. "Disney-branded games seem to perform better on the Wii and DS platforms," he noted during a recent investor call (via Computerworld). It seems Disney will continue to target non-Nintendo platforms, but with fewer shots and steadier aim. "While we'll continue to make high-end games, we'll be very judicious in how many we make and which ones we choose," Iger said. Iger is also likely to keep an eye on the performance of upcoming "high-end" titles like Tron Evolution and Black Rock Studios' Pure follow-up, Split/Second. And if neither of those work, you send in the spandex. "We have some interesting opportunities with Marvel," he said. "That's a brand we think would do extremely well on higher-end consoles." Source: ComputerWorld [via GamesIndustry.biz] Source: The Walt Disney Company Q1 results
Ubisoft reports fiscal Q3 sales of $679 million, hints at unannounced titles
Sure, $679 million may sound like a lot of money (it sure does to us!), but when you're a company CEO reporting that number to investors and it's 2.7 percent lower than last year's equivalent time period ($697 million), it's not quite as impressive. And that's just what Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had to do earlier today when the company reported its fiscal Q3 (October 1 through December 31) sales for 2009. Given the publisher's French HQ, we're not privy to the period's revenue until later this year. In discussing plans for the upcoming year, the company cited "at least seven franchise titles" being launched this year, calling out this morning's (finally) officially-announced Ghost Recon: Future Soldier among others, leaving one (presumably unannounced) title unmentioned. The publisher then indicates "at least two new brands (R.U.S.E. has already been announced)" will see the light of day in 2010 -- leaving one unannounced new brand. Getting murkier yet, it appears "at least 5 online games" will be heading to the information superhighway, though only three are mentioned (yep, you guessed it -- that means two have yet to be revealed). With GDC, PAX East, and E3 not too far off (already?!), there's still plenty of 2010 left for announcements.
EA loses $82 million in fiscal Q3 2010, revenue down 25%
Right off the bat, you should know this: for EA, losing $82 million in the third quarter of a fiscal year is an enormous improvement. Compared to the same period last year ("Q3" for EA is October 1 – December 31), the company lost 559 million fewer actual physical dollars. Yes, really. Now that we've told you that, we should also note that the publisher pulled in 24.85 percent less revenue year over year (down to $1.243 billion in Q3 2010 from $1.654 billion in Q3 2009). That said, Playfish had "two of the top ten Facebook games" for the quarter! Good thing EA spent $300 million on those folks, eh? Okay, okay, real talk: the company also points out that it was the "#1 packaged goods publisher in North America and Europe" for its entire fiscal year. CEO John Riccitiello even notes that Mass Effect 2 is "the first blockbuster of 2010." And hey, with 2 million units already shipped, we tend to agree.
Square Enix summons strong sales for first nine months of fiscal year
According to Square Enix's financial report covering the first nine months (ending this past December) of its fiscal year, the company is going to finish its annual business cycle with plenty of glistening gil. Overall, the company's profits are up 48 percent from the same period last year, and it forecasts a profit of ¥10 billion (which is far less shocking when converted to $112 million) for the fiscal year ending in March 2010. The company's games division saw limit breaker sales and profits during the period due to Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Batman: Arkham Asylum -- which it obtained as part of the Eidos buyout. Square Enix's games group saw sales of ¥72 billion ($806 million, a 97 percent increase over last year), along with a profit of ¥18 billion ($202 million, a 99 percent increase during the same time). Kupos to you, Square Enix.
Microsoft reports $6.66b Q1 net profit, Windows 7 'fastest selling OS in history'
Microsoft's gotta be pretty happy with its second quarter results, especially after two previous quarters of somewhat downtrodden reports. The company's posting a record $19.02 billion in revenue, a 14 percent increase year-over-year. Net income / profit was $6.66 billion. Buoyed by all that is $1.71 billion in deferred revenue for Windows 7 pre-sales, which in laymen's terms means money the company made before the fiscal quarter began but couldn't then claim it because the product (Windows 7) hadn't yet been delivered to the consumer. Speaking of the platform, Microsoft is claiming to now have "the fastest selling operating system in history" with 60 million licenses sold. A much better way for the gang in Redmond to the start the year, so now let's see how the rest of 2010 plays out.
