Today, Capcom reported their financial earnings for the full fiscal year ended on March 31, 2010. Unfortunately for the House of Street Fighter, 2010 was not the best year for the company. Capcom posted net sales of ¥66.8 billion ($779 million), down from ¥91.8 billion ($1.07 billion) from the same period in 2009, and the lowest net sales the company has seen since 2005. The company was able to stay in the clear with ¥2.1 billion ($25 million) in net income, but that also sits lower than previous years’ income going all the way back to 2004.
The Home Video and Arcade games division underperformed this year with console sales down to ¥44 billion ($513 million) from ¥63 billion ($733 million) in 2009, and arcade sales dipping to ¥2.3 billion ($27 million) compared to ¥8 billion ($94 million) the previous year.
The total number of video games sold came to 12.5 million units, down from 17.3 million units last year. Most of the loss was due to the lack of any global marquee titles launched, like Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter IV, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite in 2009. The highest selling title of the year was Monster Hunter Freedom Unite with 1.3 million units, followed by Monster Hunter Tri with 1.1 million units, and Resident Evil 5 with 950,000. The company notes that the delay of Super Street Fighter IV and Lost Planet 2 hurt fiscal year 2010’s bottom line. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Dark Void, and Bionic Commando were all noted as failed releases.
Heading into the next year, Capcom is focusing on a strategy they call ‘Single Content Multiple Usage’, which mirrors the growing transmedia trend in the industry. This strategy calls for Capcom to spread their considerable library of IP into other markets, including film, television, comic books, music, animation, and mobile games. IP listed includes the global Street Fighter and Resident Evil brands, as well as the more Japanese-centric Monster Hunter and Sengoku Basara brands. Examples of this new initiative included Resident Evil 4 iPad Edition, the download-only Mega Man 10 for Xbox Live Arcade and PSN, and Monster Hunter Frontier Online for PC.
Notable titles expected to release in the 2011 fiscal year include Super Street Fighter IV, Dead Rising 2, Monster Hunter Freedom 3, and Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Capcom is focusing on their marquee titles to increase profitability for the year, but they have allocated 20-30% of investments towards the development of new titles, like the upcoming Ghost Trick for DS. The company is forecasting net sales of ¥95 billion ($1.1 billion) and an operating income of ¥15 billion ($174 million) for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2011.
