Konami games revenue drops 45% in Q1
Games income from US and Europe reduced significantly
Konami's quarter earnings for the period April 1 to June 30 2009 have shown game sales are down on last year, by 45 per cent.
The company reported net revenues of JPY 24.6 billion (USD 258 million) for the quarter, compared with JPY 44.9 billion (USD 471 million) made in the same three month period in 2008.
Its gaming division - which comprises computer and videogames, arcade machines, card games and online games - suffered the biggest loss of all of its business sectors, resulting in an overall revenue drop of 21 per cent for the company.
Breaking down videogame sales across the different geographical zones, North America saw the biggest drop in sales - an 80 per cent drop from 2.59 million units sold to 530,000. In Europe sales halved from 2.3 million to 1.16 million. Domestic games sales saw the smallest drop - down 38 per cent from 1.93 million to 1.2 million.
The second half of the year will see a confirmed eight games released, the most significant of which is PES 2010.
Saw, Castlevania: Lords of Shadows and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (PSP) are all scheduled for FY2010 releases, while a release date for the next gen Metal Gear Solid Rising is still to be decided.