Competition and lack of releases sees sales slide 39% at Capcom Mobile
Nine months of pain
Japanese game publisher Capcom (TYO:9697) has announced its figures for the nine months ending 31 December 2013.
Net sales were ¥75 billion ($715 million), up 3.5 percent year-on-year.
Net income was ¥6.0 billion ($57 million), down 10 percent.
In terms of key releases during the period, Monster Hunter 4 was the main driver of growth, with 4 million sales in Japan, while Dead Rising 3, had 1 million sales on Xbox One.
Transitional upsetCapcom Mobile sales saw a 39 percent decline in sales during the period to ¥5.2 billion ($49 million).
As with many Japanese companies - notably platform outfits GREE and DeNA - it's been hit by the switch from feature phones to native smartphone games.
"Mobile contents did not achieve expected level of sales throughout the period under review, due in part to lack of major titles and the fierce competition even though Monster Hunter Hunting Quest performed steadily," Capcom noted.
Smurfs' Village, from the company's western-focused social division Beeline, generated stable income, but new release Snoopy's Candy Town failed to find any traction.
Capcom ended the period with cash of $300 million.
