Capcom reports $736 million in net sales despite poor Lost Planet 3 performance

Capcom reports a 3.5 percent year-on-year net sales increase of 75,221 million yen ($736 million), according to its latest financial results for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2013, revealing an operating income decrease of 13. 4 percent to 8,521 million yen ($83 million).

Ordinary income decreased by 8 percent to 9,251 million yen ($90 million) and net income for the period decreased by 10.3 percent to 5,957 million yen ($58 million) over the same period last year. The forecast for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 remains unchanged from projected financial results revealed in May last year. The company projects an operating income of 12,000 million yen ($117 million) and net sales of 97,000 million yen ($949 million) for the fiscal year.

Capcom states that the combination of strong next-generation console launches in west and the pending roll outs of the hardware in Japan "resulted in an overall soft market" that is in a transition period. Sales targets for Monster Hunter 4 and its western-targeted Dead Rising 3 were met for the period, surpassing 4 million and 1 million units, respectively. Nintendo 3DS title Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies also hit projected sales targets and DuckTales: Remastered achieved than better-than-expected shipments.

As previously outlined in its earnings report for the first half of the fiscal year, sales of Lost Planet 3 missed sales expectations "due in part to intensifying competition in the European and U.S. markets." While Monster Hunter Hunting Quest performed steadily, Capcom again reports that its mobile content did not achieve expected sales for the period, which it attributes to lack of major titles and "the fierce competitive environment."

Last year, Capcom revised its projected profits for the last financial year by more than half, attributing the loss to a shift to digital media and quality of games developed overseas. As a result, the company restructured to internal research and development and increased its focus on downloadable content. The company notes in its latest earnings report that the success of downloadable versions of games like DuckTales: Remastered and Monster Hunter 4 contributed to expansion of sales and indicated the growing shift to digital media.

Earlier this month, Capcom's corporate officer and head of consumer games development Yoshinori Ono recently outlined the company's plans to target its three main markets — Japan, North America and Europe and Asia — differently to better cater to the respective regions.