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Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Ships 480K, Tecmo Koei Still Posts Weak Sales

Posted May 19, 2010 by M.H. Williams

Today, Japanese developer Tecmo Koei released their earnings report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. The company reported sales of $376.9 million, down 13.8% from the same period last year. Profits only dropped $2.2 million, from $30.6 million for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2009 down to $28.4 million this year. These results are higher than revised forecasts made in February, when the company cut operating profit expectations by 97%, but they remain far lower than the company’s initial forecasts last year.

Tecmo Koei CEO Kenji Matsubara told Nikkei that numerous delays combined with lower-than-expected sales of some major titles resulted in a difficult year for the publisher. Sengoku Musou 3 for the Nintendo Wii failed to reach 500,000 units sold, despite the higher sales of its preceding titles. The delayed releases included Trinity 0’ll Zero, Troy Musou and Quantum Theory. Two of those titles, Troy Musou and Quantum Theory, are aimed primarily at Western markets.

The big success story for the company was Fist of the North Star for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The recently released title shipped 500,000 units in two days and continues to see brisk business at retail. "We really wanted to release it earlier," said Matsubara. "I'm glad we made it out within the fiscal year." The other major seller was last fall's Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for PS3, which shipped 480,000 copies.

Nikkei questioned Matsubara about forthcoming releases for the fiscal year, but the executive remained tight-lipped. "I can't share details yet," he said, "but there are games that have yet to be announced. Whether or not those will be shown to the world around the timing of E3 is to be determined."

The company expects sales to total $398.4 million by next year, a rise of 5.9%. Profits are expected to follow with a 34.4% rise to $38.2 million.  Tecmo Koei also said it expects to ship a total of 6.71 million units of software over the course of the year, versus the 5.77 million units sold this year.

In closing, Matsubara took time to comment on Nintendo’s forthcoming portable, the 3DS. "3D games don't have a sales record yet, so I don't know. However, I suspect it will be more accepted by core gamers rather than casual players,” he said. “When you bring something new to the market, the core player group first finds it interesting, and then it expands from there. I believe current DS core gamers who like new things and core gamers who don't have a DS will be the first to jump in. After that, it will be up to the content."

[Thanks Edge Online]

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.