Capcom reports reduced profits

Following the profits warning issued last month, today’s financial report from Capcom was never going to be pretty.

The Japanese publisher registered a net income of 3bn for the last financial year, almost exactly in line with the modified forecast it released in April. That’s still a profit, of course, but one that’s over 50 per cent lower than the year before.

Revenues passed 94bn, climbing 14.6 per cent year-on-year.

Resident Evil 6 sales reached 4.9m units in the period, which in itself sounds pretty good. Sadly, this was well below Capcom’s 7m forecast. DmC, which as of last month had sold 1.15m units, were described as "enjoying stable popularity in overseas market and posting solid sales".

Package sales” of Wii U title Monster Hunter 3 were described as generally soft”.

The real star was Dragon’s Dogma, which has sold over 1m units – a feat Capcom thinks is quite remarkable for a new IP. There was mobile success, too, with both Resident Evil: Outbreak Survive and Minna to Monhan Card Master selling over 2m units each.

Capcom expects a brighter future, however, saying that it predicts high profit” for the current financial year by directing our development resources to the development of online games (mobile, PC online and downloads for consumer games), which is a growing area, and by releasing large-scale titles such as Monster Hunter 4 and Lost Planet 3 focused on the domestic and overseas markets respectively”.