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Capcom has released its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31st, with the profitability of the company reaching “record highs” following the success of Monster Hunter: World.
Having launched in January and shifted 5m units during its opening weekend, Monster Hunter: World reached 7.5m copies sold by March 31st, Capcom said, becoming the best selling game in the Japanese firm’s history. “Of particular note is that the worldwide expansion of the user base due to the game’s tremendous success overseas — in addition to its established domestic popularity — has marked the start of a new era for the brand, and that this international recognition has served to energise the company’s global operations,” Capcom added in its financial report.
As a result of this good performance, sales at the company increased 8.4 per cent year-on-year to reach ¥94,515m (£636.7m) while operating income was up 17.5 per cent during the same period, reaching ¥16,037m (£108m).
But Monster Hunter: World was not the only title to boost Capcom’s results, with the financial report stating that digital contents also drove revenue, with continued success from Resident Evil VII, Monster Hunter XX on Switch (which is a Japan-only title) and Switch-exclusive Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers. The latter was described by Capcom as a “smash hit.” However, sales for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, which released in September last year, “tended to be soft,” the firm added. Overall, digital sales (including mobile content) were up 26.3 per cent year-on-year, generating ¥74,141m (£499.2m), while operating income coming from digital content reached ¥19,103m (£128.6m).
Looking forward, Capcom will “focus its efforts on the development and sales” of its digital content, adding: “The company will strive to expand the development pipeline and product lineup, working toward being able to produce multiple million-seller titles each fiscal year.”
The Japanese company also wants to grow its esports segment, driven by the success of the Street Fighter franchise: “Recent trends provide extremely desirable new business opportunities to develop this new business. To this end, the Company aims to launch its esports business and to achieve profitability at an early date by leveraging Street Fighter and other popular contents to generate synergy.”
On a side note, the report also mentioned Capcom’s will to promote a healthy work-life balance. “The company is endeavoring to improve and maintain employee health by encouraging employees to take paid leave in order to reduce instances of long hours of work,” it said.
If you’re into that kind of things, you can read the full report here.
