Rising development costs hit Sammy results

Japanese publisher Sammy has announced its first half results, showing a significant drop in profits which is largely attributed to increased development costs on future products.

The company, which manufactures arcade and gambling systems as well as home console products, witnessed a 7 per cent drop in revenues along with a 19 per cent drop in profits for the six month period, which ended in September.

A Sammy representative named rising development costs as the cause for the shortfall in profits - particularly costs related to a forthcoming PS2 title, Seven Samurai 20XX, and the company's AtomisWave arcade division.

Sammy is perhaps best known in the west for the Guilty Gear series of beat 'em up titles, although more recently the company has made headlines for its much-publicised merger plans with Sega, which fell through earlier this year.