Today Konami announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended on September 30th, as well as the figures for the first half of the fiscal year.
As you can see in the table below, all the relevant figures are in the black, with a significant revenue and profit increase year-on-year for the whole company.
We also get a detailed breakdown of the company’s performance, and below you can read the parts related to games. Like last quarter, we hear that the company has “high hopes for the game industry to offer new experiences through game content in various ways.”
For the six months ended September 30, 2017, the Japanese economy continues its long‐term recovery, with corporate earnings and the labor environment improving.
Consumer spending, however, still lacks strength. While Western countries’ economies are also gradually recovering, the future remains uncertain because of concerns about political and policy movements and North Korea’s actions.
In the entertainment market, game contents continue to diversify along with functional enhancement of various devices, including mobile devices and video game consoles, and development of information and telecommunications infrastructure. In conjunction with the changing times, the preference for enriching daily life through full and abundant experiences in personal spending has been strengthened. In that context, there are high hopes for the game industry to offer new experiences through game content in various ways, including eSports, which are regarded as a form of sports competition and are attracting more and more attention.
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Under such circumstances, in the Digital Entertainment segment, the mobile games continued to enjoy strong performance, including JIKKYOU PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU, Yu‐Gi‐Oh! DUEL LINKS, PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL SPIRITS A (Ace) and Winning Eleven 2017 (known overseas as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2017). As for card games, we distributed the Yu‐Gi‐Oh! TRADING CARD GAME series worldwide, and hosted the game’s world championship in Japan. Another championship for the mobile game, Yu‐Gi‐Oh! DUEL LINKS, was also held at the same time. This enabled users to have fun through eSports, as well.
As for computer and video games, Winning Eleven 2018 (known overseas as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018) was released and received favorable reviews. In addition, SUPER BOMBERMAN R(known overseas as Super Bomberman R) and JIKKYOU PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU 2016 continued to enjoy strong performance.
Moving on to the specific Digital Entertainment business, which includes video games, it’s still by far the biggest and profitable in the company’s portfolio, with a sharp increase in both revenue and income year-on-year.
Mobile games seem for be doing well for Konami, while we also hear a mention of “favorable reviews” for Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 and continued strong performance for Super Bomberman R.
The mobile games continued to receive favorable reviews, including JIKKYOU PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU and PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL SPIRITS A (Ace). In addition, titles for global markets, Yu‐Gi‐Oh! DUEL LINKS, Winning Eleven 2017 (known overseas as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2017) and Winning Eleven CLUB MANAGER (known overseas as PES CLUB MANAGER) continued stable performance.
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As for computer and video games, we released Winning Eleven 2018 (known overseas as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018), and it has received favorable reviews.
Also, SUPER BOMBERMAN R (known overseas as Super Bomberman R) and JIKKYOU PAWAFURU PUROYAKYU 2016 continued perform well. Starting in August 2017, we began hosting nationwide qualifying rounds for the booming “PAWAPURO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017” eSports tournament, which is officially recognized by the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB).
Last, but not least, we get a breakdown of the outlook for the full fiscal year, with a mention of the intention of developing games that match the specific advantages of each device.
With the spread of entertainment offered through networks, the available means of providing games continue to diversify. Opportunities to reach an even greater audience for games are increasing. Against this background, we intend to develop ways of playing games that match the characteristics of each device.
As for mobile games, a new title, Winning Eleven CARD COLLECTION (known overseas as PES CARD COLLECTION), is intended to be released. In addition, we intend to release LovePlus EVERY and Tokimeki Idol, which were both popular at Tokyo Game Show 2017.
As for the existing mobile titles, the total number of registered users of all contents we developed continues to increase steadily. Those game titles include Yu‐Gi‐Oh! DUEL LINKS, which surpassed 55 million downloads, and Winning Eleven 2017 (known overseas as PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2017), which surpassed 50 million downloads. In addition, we intend to develop the PC version of the mobile game Yu‐Gi‐Oh DUEL LINKS. With a focus on these titles, we will strive to provide content that enables us to deliver pleasure to customers in various regions.
As for card games, we will continue to strengthen our expansion in the global market as well as continue aggressive promotions within the area of eSports.
As for computer and video games, we will release Puri‐Puri Chii‐chan!! Puri‐PuriDeco Room! for Nintendo 3DSTM in November 2017 for domestic market. As an approach to eSports, we also intend to host the “PES LEAGUE” eSports event, a tournament now officially recognized by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations), and the “PAWAPURO CHAMPIONSHIPS” eSports event, a tournament officially recognized by the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB). We will strive to enable customers to have fun on a continual basis. In addition, METAL GEAR SURVIVE, which was exhibited at Tokyo Game Show 2017, is intend to be
released in February 2018. ANUBIS ZONE OF THE ENDERS : Ｍ∀ＲＳ, which we are working on in earnest, is intended to be released in 2018.As the preference for enriching daily life through full and abundant experiences has strengthened in the entertainment market, we continue to make efforts to create and provide “Valuable Time” to customers through game contents.
If you want to compare these results with the past fiscal quarter, you can read our dedicated article from July.