'Recovery trend' in Japanese video games helps Capcom to profits

Capcom saw its profits on the rise during the last fiscal half, thanks in part to "a recovery trend" for the company's core video games business in Japan. While its social games business lost momentum due to restrictions on usage limits that followed the "complete gacha" issues in Japan, the company's console and mobile games saw an uplift in Japan, although overseas markets still remained stagnant. In particular, Capcom says that Resident Evil 6 is selling well, while Dragon's Dogma has "enjoyed popularity exceeding expectations," having sold over one million copies worldwide. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City has also seen a steady growth in sales, the company noted. Despite issues in the Japanese social games space, Capcom still reports strong player numbers. Resident Evil: Outbreak Survive, for example, saw more than 2 million registered users, while titles like The Smurfs' Village and Snoopy's Street Fair continued to fare well under the Beeline brand. Elsewhere, the company's arcade business didn't fare as well, with decreased revenues and profits year-over-year and the company's number of arcades cut down to 35, due in part to the ongoing impact of last year's Great East Japan Earthquake. However, in comparison the company's amusement equipment business boomed, swinging from losses last year to profits this year. A new Mario Party coin-operated game, plus expanded sales of a past Monster Hunter game, helped the sector to profits. For the six months ended September 30, 2012, Capcom's video game business recorded revenue of ¥35.0 billion ($438 million), up 69.1 percent year-over-year, and operating income of ¥5.8 billion ($72.4 million), up 83.1 percent year-over-year. Overall, the company saw revenues of ¥45.5 billion yen ($570.4 million), up 55.7 percent year-over-year, and profits of ¥4.1 billion yen ($51.7 million), up 355.1 percent year-over-year.