Profits down at Sega despite upswing in packaged game sales

Sales and profits are on the wane at Sega, according to the company's financials for the six months ending September 30, 2018. 

Consolidated net sales fell by 12.2 percent year-over-year to 171 billion yen ($1.5 billion), while profits dropped by 62.3 percent to 6.7 billion yen ($59.4 million) over the same period. 

In the company's Entertainment Contents division, which houses its video game operations, net sales rose by 5.6 percent to 107.2 billion yen ($950.5 million), although operating income decreased by 38.9 percent to 6.2 billion yen ($55 million). 

That sales surge was partly down to the positive performance of packaged software, with physical sales rising to 11.2 million units from 8.7 million units year-over-year -- thanks in no small part to the repeat sale of catalog titles. 

Sega also singled out the PS4 version of Border Break for particular praise, and claimed digital sales of the popular arcade shooter (which is current only available in Japan) were "robust." 

Looking ahead, the Japanese outfit believes new properties like Project Judge (working title), Wonder Gravity, and Revolve8 will drive business alongside existing franchises such as Total War and Football Manager. 

With that in mind, the company is sticking to its existing financial forecast, and still expects to see net sales of 390 billion yen ($3.5 billion) and profits of 12 billion yen ($106.4 million) by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2019.