Capcom Takes Dragon Punch to the Balance Sheet

[Logan Westbrook]

Capcom Takes Dragon Punch to the Balance Sheet

Capcom's revenue has plummeted to barely more than one twentieth of what it was this time last year.

Capcom has reported income of ¥216 million for the quarter ending June 30th, representing an astounding 94.8% drop from the same time last year. Capcom is attributing the "drastic decline of profitability" to a number of factors, including poor game sales and a strong yen.

The main reason behind the massively reduced earnings was the poor sales of Lost Planet 2, Capcom said, but Monster Hunter Tri and the DS game Ghost Trick had also sold less than expected. Capcom also said that higher development costs compared to last year, due to an increase in "flagship titles," had played a part.

This doesn't mean that Capcom is in trouble necessarily, as earlier in the year it had reported a more than eightfold increase in year-on-year profits, but such a dramatic drop must be a little worrying. It seems likely that this is exactly the kind of drop in earnings that Capcom hopes to avoid in the future by increasing the number of major titles it releases each year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102376-Capcom-Upping-Production-on-Major-Titles].

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40202/Income-nosedives-at-Capcom]


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[TsunamiWombat]

This might have something to do with the fact that all of those games sucked.

Just a hunch.

 

[Hayate_GT]

i think this will change once MvC3 comes out..also they have some other CapcomVs. titles coming out so a financial Shinku Hadoken may be on its way...

 

[JaredXE]

Quick, time to release Super Street Fighter 4 Hyper Alpha!

With DLC costumes costing just $9.99! And they were already on the disc!

 

[Silver Patriot]

Maybe if Lost Planet 2 wasn't so much unlike the first game it would have sold better.

Oh well, they will get my money when Dead Rising 2 comes out.

 

[LeonLethality]

Well with MHP3rd coming out this year in Japan (judging by the sales of their previous PSP MH installment (the best selling PSP game ever) this one should earn them a couple of bucks.) and MvC3 in the works, I don't think they will be going belly up any time soon.

 

[GiantRedButton]

I'm getting a little lost in the metaphor; considering that Ryu and Ken's trademark Shoryuken move could be translated as "Rising Dragon Fist," I don't see why you'd allude to it in a case of falling sales... I would say they saw an "Izuna Drop" in sales.

Great punshline!
They didn't release anything big for pc this year, so an entier platform is missing, a powerfull one even.
And Monster Hunter Tri had NO offline coop expect for a few bonus missions.
Was looking forward to get it at full privce to play through it with my sis but it is the first Monsterhunter game of this series based on local coop without local coop.

 

[fanklok]

¥216 million isn't that like $20 US? Props on record lows tho I think you actually need to try to do that.

 

[Jared]

Oh wow. Gues that means capcom is going to be worried about the future of the series...

 

[ZeroAE]

Well , with Dead Rising 2 and MvC3 , I dont think they will break anytime soon.

 

[Mordwyl]

Is the Megaman franchise in danger? I seriously hope not.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

This is where they cross their fingers for Street Fighter x Tekken and Marvel vs Capcom 3 to get their cash flow back.

But I myself am eagerly anticipating Dead Rising 2 as well.

Business is an ebb and flow like the tides. SF4 was high tide. Now is the low tide. They'll survive like they have before.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I'm not worried. Capcom has a pretty stellar line-up of games on the horizon, including the HIGHLY anticipated MvC3.

 

[Clyde]

am i the only one who notices ryu's ...

 

[Therumancer]

I don't know it could be backlash over Super Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5. Both of those products seemed to get some very mixed reactions due to the way they were released and/or things that were DLC. They might have made people a lot more wary of Capcom's products for fear of being asked to pay extra for the online mode, or see an expanded version of whatever game they purchused come out right around the corner. To say nothing of the costumes and so on.

That said I am looking forward to MvC3 and Dead Rising 2, and I think both will be big successes so they are unlikely to be in trouble (as others have said) though admittedly if I feel ripped off or like they are gouging me for cash with those titles (via the kinds of DLC they release or whatever) it might turn me against Capcom for the long term.

Also I have never been able to really figure out what the heck they were thinking with releasing Monster Hunter for the Wii. I think that could have been a big success with the PS-3 given free online play, and the abillity to finally play with two thumbsticks (the controls being what have always held me back from enjoying the series). In going for a full sized version of Monster Hunter as opposed to keeping it as a portable game, I don't know what they expected when they decided to release for the Wii rather that a serious gaming platform.

 

[Skops]

I blame Dark Void. It was just a bad game, in every sense.

Capcom is still my favorite dev. Mega Man, Street Fighter, Resident Evil (though 5 SUCKED imho, it'll get better I hope) and while Monster Hunter Tri was good, it just didn't seem as polished as Freedom. I can understand why they put it on Wii, I'm mean, 80% of their fanbase was Japanese... It's almost an unwritten law in Japan to own a Wii.