Konami has posted a staggering increase in profits for the quarter ended June 30, as income rose 244.7 percent to a total of ¥1.26 billion ($14.6m / £9.2m), up from ¥367 million ($4.2m). Though profits went up, revenues were down 5 percent, from ¥55.9 billion ($651m) to ¥53.1 billion ($618.4m).
Konami’s Digital Entertainment division, responsible for video games and other entertainment media platforms, announced that net revenues were relatively unchanged over the year, increasing to ¥25 billion ($291.1m) for this quarter, up from ¥24.6 billion last year.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 accounted for the main sales of the computer and video games section of the division. Sales totaled ¥14.3 billion ($166.5m), up from ¥9.8 billion last year. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was alone responsible for a whole 40% of handheld sales for the company, at 4.62 million shipped units during the quarter.
Konami acknowledged that Japan continues to be the strongest region for the company, where 2.44 million games were sold in three months, as opposed to 1.02 million in the U.S. and 1.08 million across Europe.
This is a marked increase over last year’s disappointing figures. Konami's upcoming titles could very well help keep the momentum going for the rest of the year.
