Dead Rising 3 exceeds target as Capcom hangs on

Dead Rising 3, the zombie survival horror game exclusive to Xbox One, has exceeded Capcom’s expectations and given the Japanese publisher a much-needed boost to its revenues.

The game, which launched alongside Xbox One on November 15th, broke one million sales, and occurred not long after two other sales successes in the form of Monster Hunter 4 and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies.

For the nine months ending December 31st, 2013, Capcom manage to increase its net sales to 75,221 million yen (£448m) (up 3.5 per cent from the same term last year).

However, Lost Planet 3 proved to be a disappointment for the publisher, which it blamed on “intensifying competition in the European and North American markets”.

Digital was where the publisher made up for its losses in the retail sector – much like its rival Sega. Both DuckTales: Remastered and the downloadable version of Monster Hunter 4 achieved better than expected sales.

Until recently, Capcom had found a strong sales from in-app purchases in mobile titles, such as Smurfs’ Village. However, Capcom did not achieve its expected targets, which it put down to a “lack of major titles and the fierce competition”.

Last month, Capcom announced that it plans to hire 500 new developers by 2019 in an effort to turnaround its fortunes by investing in a strong in-house development team.

As for profits, operating income decreased to 8,521 million yen (£51m) (down 13.4 per cent from the same term last year), and ordinary income decreased to 9,251 million yen (£55m) (down 8.0 per cent from the same term last year).

Net income for the period decreased to 5,957 million yen (£35.7m) (down 10.3 per cent from the same term last year).