Resident Evil 6 sells 4.9 million, disappoints

Capcom today released financial results for the year ended March 31, reporting that its Resident Evil 6 sold 4.9 million units (enough to be the fourth best-seller in company history), but still managed to disappoint.

The publisher said that the game initially sold "at a brisk pace" when it was launched last October. However, Resident Evil 6 sales "subsequently plateaued. As a result, it did not meet with our projection and thus was not able to play a role in leading the segment's sales growth." (Capcom had originally projected the game to sell 7 million copies.)

Despite that disappointment, Capcom still managed to return to sales growth after an off year. Company-wide revenues were up 15 percent year-over-year to ¥94.08 billion ($952 million), while the digital contents division that Capcom calls its core competence was up a more modest 6 percent to ¥63.64 billion ($645 million).

Capcom credited the growth to a variety of factors, including the unanticipated success of Dragon's Dogma in Japan, and a general rebound for the Japanese economy. The publisher also noted that the Japanese game market grew for the first time in five years, attributing the surge to Nintendo's launch of the Wii U. As for other Capcom projects, the publisher reported "solid sales" for DmC Devil May Cry, and called Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for Wii U a "smash hit," even though sales for the packaged version of the game were soft.

Despite the boost in revenues, Capcom actually saw profits reduced for the year. The company reported net income of ¥2.97 billion ($30 million), down from ¥6.72 billion ($68 million) for the prior year.

While Capcom expects "scant new product releases" as the industry transitions to a new generation of consoles, it still expects to grow sales and profits in the current fiscal year. As for what games will help realize that ambition, the publisher said it will take an aggressive stance to promote Monster Hunter 4 on the 3DS and Lost Planet 3 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Elsewhere in the industry, the company suggested that soaring development costs will likely lead to a jump in business alliances and consolidations.