Capcom's Profits Drop Despite "Firm" Sales of Digital Games

Publisher Capcom has detailed its financial results for the six months spanning April to September, noting a downturn in income despite an increase in sales.

The Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, and Resident Evil company reported $262 million in net sales, which represents a 22 percent increase over the same six month period in 2014, when net sales were cited as $214 million. Net income during this period, meanwhile, reached $16 million. This is a decrease of 34 percent over 2014, when it reported a net income of $25 million.

In its investor relations report, Capcom described digital sales of games such as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Resident Evil Revelations 2 as "firm, particularly in overseas markets."

Dragons Dogma Online--a free-to-play role-playing game for PlayStation 4,PlayStation 3, and PC--and mobile title Monster Hunter Explore were said to have made an "excellent start." Profitability stalled due to "higher costs and some sales shortfalls" in the pachinko and pachislot equipment business, "as well as slower sales of existing" PC online and mobile departments.

It is worth noting that it is not common for a company to report its financial results in six-months bracket. Businesses tend to focus on three-month periods segmented into four quarters across the financial year.

Capcom has marked high-definition remasters of legacy games as a key area of potential growth for the company, and said it will publish more HD remakes.

Digitally delivered content was big focus of for Capcom during its last fiscal year and it has has said dedicating itself to this strategy will "deliver a sustainable growth going forward."

Resident Evil HD Remaster was released in January 20 on consoles and PC, and broke sales records for Capcom, becoming the fastest selling digital title in the company's history across North America and Europe.

In May, Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster (Biohazard 0 HD Remaster in Japan) was announced. This game will be a high-definition remake of 2002's GameCube-exclusive Resident Evil Zero. It is scheduled for release on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC in early 2016.