It’s clear that Capcom is one of the most iconic video game companies out there. The Japanese company has been doing pretty well recently too, posting record profits thanks to its to biggest video game franchises.
Actually, in its most recent earnings report (which covers the 12-month period ending on March 31 this year) the company said its net sales were a whopping $940 million US dollars, as was recently reported on gamesindustry.biz. The Osaka-based video game company had a profit of about $273 million US dollars, which represents a pretty good 13 % increase when compared to the same period last year.
Of course, we all know that Capcom sells video games, and that it is behind some of the top video game franchises on the planet, including Resident Evil and Monster Hunter.
So it’s no surprise the two helped the Japanese company post record results. The company’s Resident Evil 4 remake (which came out this March) sold more than 3 million copies in its debut week. Of course, Resident Evil 4 sales are expected to be much higher when everything is said and done, but the highly-rated remake has already done a lot to sweeten Capcom’s results.
Meanwhile, the previous Resident Evil remakes (2 and 3) still appear to be selling strongly, with sales actually increasing in the past 12 months, which speaks to the enduring popularity of Capcom’s zombie franchise.
There’s also Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, an expansion to the best-selling Monster Hunter Rise game which hit shelves in 2021. The Sunbreak expansion shifted an impressive 5.45 million copies in Capcom’s fiscal year ending on March 31. This is not surprising taking into account that Monster Hunter has been something of a golden goose for Capcom over the years, with almost 80 million units sold to date.
What’s interesting too about Capcom’s latest results is the increase in digital sales – it seems digital distribution was the driver here. Actually, retail sales dropped an astounding 40 % (down to $134 million US dollars) year over year. Revenue from mobile content experienced a similar drop, and was down 33 %.
Nonetheless, this is still something of a golden age for Capcom, a company which has been around since the late 70s. The company is expecting to sell 45 million games this year, and it may well achieve that goal taking into account that it’s gearing up to launch the latest entry in its best-selling fighting series (Street Fighter 6). There’s also the multiplayer action game Exoprimal, which is yet to get a release date but which could end up being one of the year’s big hits when its finally released.
For the time being, though, it’s likely that the Resident Evil games and Monster Hunter Rise will keep driving sales, with Capcom already expecting to top $1 billion US dollars in video game sales by March next year.