Strong sales up Capcom’s financial forecast
Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 2:03am by Derek
Capcom announced yesterday a 15 percent raise in expected 2008 operating profit, elevating the company’s forecast to 11.5 billion yen. Capcom expects net sales of 81.6 billion yen and a net income of and 62 billion yen for the year.
The company cited better-than-expected software sales as the reason for the boost, particularly noting the “robust sales” of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. According to Capcom, the exclusive Wii shooter has sold 950K copies worldwide to date.
In a somewhat pleasant surprise, the company’s financial statement also highlighted the performance of another Wii exclusive, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure. Capcom’s internal figures show the critically acclaimed puzzler has sold a respectable 300K units worldwide.
Capcom noted these results were offset by “sluggish growth” of the Wii exclusive We Love Golf and Mega Man Star Force 2 in Japan. Perhaps if gamers were offered an actual Mega Man sequel with the actual Mega Man, “growth” would be less “sluggish.”
February 7th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Too bad we don’t have more details. Did the games see a huge surge when first released? Have sales trended downwards, held steady, or even increased over time? How do those “worldwide” numbers break down across different regions?
Regardless, it’s still good news for Zack & Wiki fans! Even though 300,000 isn’t an amazing number, it’s not bad considering that game that really came out of nowhere. I have a feeling the sales will continue throughout the year, as positive word-of-mouth is still spreading.
Hmm… Maybe the rumors about an eventual sequel are more reliable than I though?
February 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Hopefully zack and wiki will sell more because its only been out for 3 weeks here in europe
February 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I’m really happy to hear Umbrella Chronicles did well. Putting that along side RE4, that sends a great message to Capcom that us “hardcore” gamers are alive and well on the Wii, and that we obviously want some more RE games. I guess it’s obvious with my username that I love me some RE, so if this means more RE games on the Wii, whether remakes, sides-stories, whatever, I’m for it. And given that RE5, while it looks great, apparently is going to take 15 years to make, I will need me some more RE to fill the time.
And not bad on Z&W, considering I saw ZERO advertising for it. I didn’t see any commericals, no displays at GameStop, and other than some internet coverage, there was nada.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I generally believe increased sales on reduced profits are a bad thing. In my mind it means you’re doing more business (work) and getting less in return for it.
Anyway, the fact that RE:UC has blown past their ~600,000 expectations shows that just like RE4, they really don’t expect things to succeed on Wii. You would think that the evidence at hand would make them start reallocating some dollars, but I haven’t seen it yet.