Dark Souls II helps Namco Bandai's game business stay healthy

Although Namco Bandai's profits took a tumble during the last fiscal year, the company's video game business was, in fact, the only sector that saw a rise in earnings. It was mainly the publisher's amusement machine business that caused the drop in profits, as it swung to losses. Video game sales were actually slightly up year-over-year, accounting for 84.9 billion yen ($833.9 million) compared to 84.4 billion yen ($829.1 million). Dark Souls II in particular sold well for the company, with 1.2 million units sold worldwide. Meanwhile God Eater 2 managed 700,000 units sold in Japan, and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z sold 620,000 units worldwide. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, Namco Bandai's Content business, which includes video games, recorded revenues of 278.4 billion yen ($2.7 billion), up 5.6 percent year-over-year, and operating income of 37.2 billion yen ($365.4 million), up 2.2 percent. Namco Bandai as a whole recorded revenues of 507.7 billion yen ($5.0 billion), up 4.2 percent year-over-year, and profits of 25.1 billion yen ($246.6 million), down 22.6 percent year-over-year. For the current year, the company is forecasting a drop in operating earnings for its video game business, by around 14 percent, although it believes a boost to its Toys and Hobby business will lead to overall increased profits.