Bandai Namco has unveiled its financial outcomes for the nine-month period culminating on December 31, 2023, demonstrating a decline in sales within its Digital Entertainment segment alongside an overall decrease in profit, albeit with a slight uptick in total net sales.
Here are the figures:
- Net sales: ¥772 billion ($5.1 billion, marking a 3.9% increase year-on-year)
- Profit: ¥84.4 billion ($560.9 million, reflecting a 28.5% decrease year-on-year)
- Digital entertainment sales: ¥263 billion ($1.7 billion, down by 8.9% year-on-year)
Key Highlights:
The company attributed its profit decline to the absence of a title achieving the sales figures of Elden Ring from the previous year, despite the favorable reception of recent releases like Armored Core 6 and Tekken 8, each surpassing two million copies sold since launch.
“In addition to valuation losses linked to newly introduced online game titles and other releases during this fiscal period, we incurred a loss on disposal as part of our review of title organization in preparation for the forthcoming mid-term plan,” the company stated.
In response, Bandai Namco announced intentions to bolster its title portfolio and implement stricter quality control measures during development.
Moreover, the company confirmed the cancellation of “at least” five titles during a Q&A session following the financial report, as translated by VGC.
Regarding the restructuring of its development framework, the company emphasized plans to “refine titles” and “revise the method of recording development expenses.”
“Given the extended development cycles for games, the timeframe from investment to return is also elongating,” the statement noted.
“In conjunction with refining titles, we are exploring optimal categorization strategies, such as focusing on strategic worldwide releases and casual titles tailored for less demanding users.”
