Enduring popularity of key franchises helps boost sales and profits at Capcom

The enduring popularity of hit titles like Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter: World, and Resident Evil 2 are driving sales and profits at Capcom.

According to the company's financials for the three months ended June 30, net sales rose by 4.3 percent year-over-year to 17.9 billion yen ($165 million), while profits increased by 38.9 percent to 5.4 billion yen ($49.9 million) over the same period. 

It was a similar story in Capcom's digital contents division - which houses its video game operations - with year-on-year net sales rising by 1.4 percent to 13.97 billion yen ($129 million), and operating income surging by 34.8 percent to 7.7 billion yen ($71.1 million). 

As we mentioned before, that upswing is largely down to continued demand for key catalog titles, and a significant increase in high-margin digital download sales, which Capcom explained helped "increase profit significantly."

"As the first quarter corresponded with a transition period between major titles in the overall release cycle, new game launches were limited to a small number of re-release titles," explained the Japanese company. 

"However, sales continued to grow for hit titles from the previous quarter Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry 5, driven by an expanded user base. Flagship title Monster Hunter: World has also continued to sell well over an extended period."

Looking forward, the company hasn't altered its financial forecast, and still expects to see net sales of 85 billion yen ($784.7 million) and profits of 14 billion yen ($129.2 million) by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2020.