Capcom’s game business provides boost in Q3 financials

Capcom’s income is on the up, after nine months of solid game performance. The company has revealed an operating income of ¥7 billion (£45m) for the nine months ending December 31 2017.

This increase comes on the back of a strong performance from Capcom’s games business, which was described as performing strongly, with an 8.5 per cent increase in net sales and a 328.2 per cent jump in operating income. The company described Resident Evil 7, Monster Hunter XX and online Monster Hunter title Frontier Z sales as "strong" while Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers, a Switch-only release, was described as a "smash hit". Meanwhile, sales of Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite were dubbed "soft."

These increases come in spite of a 10.8 per cent drop in Capcom’s net sales to ¥47.7 billion across the business, which the company blame on amusement business launch delays.

Digital sales now account for around 40% of Capcom’s total games sales. Full game downloads were up 20 per cent year on year, and although there were slight declines in sales across Japan and North America, Europe was the company’s biggest area of sales growth.

These figures don’t take into account the success of recent release Monster Hunter World, which shipped five million copies in its opening weekend. Those figures will be attached to the end of year results, expected to be released in April. Expect to see yearly sales figures skew upwards.