Game sales 'slightly below expectations' at Sega despite some 'favorable' performances

Sega's Entertainment Contents division, which houses its video game operations, "exceeded expectations" during the first quarter of the fiscal year due to strong full game and DLC sales.

As noted on the company's fiscal report for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, net sales across the segment increased by 34 percent to 72.5 billion yen ($496.6 million). Operating income rose to 11.8 billion yen ($80.8 million), an upswing on the 4.3 billion yen reported this time last year.

Full game unit sales for the quarter totaled 5.8 million units, comprising 710,000 sales from new releases and 5.14 million sales from catalog titles. That's an increase on the 4.87 million units sold in Q1 last year, but Sega explained full game sales remained "slightly below expectations."

Despite that, the company praised Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance for its "favorable" performance after the title topped 500,000 sales in three days. Older titles such as Unicorn Overlord and Persona 5 Royal (Remaster) made similarly noteworthy contributions.

The Japanese publisher also lauded "strong" revenues related to its Sonic movie franchise.

Sega acknowledged its acquisition of Rovio in August 2023 helped deliver positive results, with its latest results including sales and profits from the Angry Birds maker.

"The increase in profit from the same period in the prior year was also due to the inclusion of Rovio Entertainment Corporation, which was acquired in August, 2023," Sega added. "Although the impact on profits caused by the amortization of goodwill, other intangibles was immaterial, Rovio Entertainment Corporation contributed to the Group's profit with its post amortization profit."

Looking ahead, Sega expects free-to-play releases such as Sonic Rumble and catalog sales to establish a "solid performance basis" throughout the rest of the fiscal year. It's also expecting a bump from the release of new titles such as Sonic X Shadow Generations and Metaphor: ReFantazio.

The company is forecasting net sales of 335 billion yen and operating income of 38 billion yen within its Entertainment Contents business for the full-year ended March 31, 2025.