Sega's full-year sales jump 20% as Persona and Like a Dragon sales surge
Addition of Rovio helps drive revenue growth as new RPG releases drive those franchises nearly on par with Sonic sales
Sega Sammy has released its financial report for the year ended March 31, 2023, and the company showed strong performances on a number of fronts.
The numbers:
- Net sales: ¥468 billion ($3 billion, up 20% year-on-year)
- Operating income: ¥56.8 billion ($365 million, up 22% year-on-year)
- Profit: ¥33.1 billion ($212 million, down 28% year-on-year)
The highlights:
Sega attributed its sales growth to the mid-year acquisition of Rovio and "favorable performance in the Japanese and Asian consumer area," but while its home gaming business saw a number of strong performances this year.
As for the dip in proftability, Sega blamed it in part on the costs of its European restructuring, which included hundreds of layoffs and was announced just days before the end of the fiscal year.
While the entertainment contents division (including the home gaming business) was treading water through the first nine months of the fiscal year, a strong fourth quarter pushed the segment's full-year sales up 12% to ¥318 billion ($2.04 billion).
January's Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and February's Persona 3 Reload both sold-in 1 million copies within a week of launch and hit that milestone faster than any previous title in their respective series.
The two games helped push their franchises to new heights within Sega, as the Persona franchise moved a total of 5.06 million copies over the year (up 55% year-over-year) while people bought 5.36 million copies of Like a Dragon games including the Judgment series (up 89% year-over-year).
The gap between them and Sega's flagship Sonic franchise narrowed even further as the hedgehog's sales slowed a bit this year, declining 27% to 5.92 million copies.
In the previous two years, Sonic series sales were at least double those of the Persona or Like a Dragon series.
Looking forward, Sega is forecasting the current fiscal year to see sales decline by 5% and operating income down by almost 21%, while profits increase 18%.
It actually projects its entertainment contents division to see sales up about 5% year-over-year, but that will be offset by a 21% dip in its Pachislot business and the sale of its Seagaia resort to US-based Fortress Investment Group.