Namco Bandai annual profit up 71 percent

Marriage of game publisher and toymaker paying off to the tune of 24.2 billion yen; game division sells 23.4 million units worldwide.

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot

Posted May 9, 2007 3:47 pm PT

It appears that the marriage of Namco Games and Bandai Inc. is paying off. More than a year and a half after the two companies formally merged, Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. has reported a banner year. For the fiscal year ended March 31, the company reported a net profit of a 24.2 billion yen (around $201.5 million) on revenue of 459.1 billon yen ($3.82 billion)--a 71 percent increase over the prior year.

The biggest revenue driver for the massive amusement company was its home video sector. "Sales of the DVD box featuring our original Mobile Suit Gundam TV animation series was a smash hit beyond our wild expectations, which boosted profit margin," Namco Bandai president Takeo Takasu said at a Tokyo news conference, according to the AFX News service.

Not that the company's game division fared poorly; during the 12 months, Namco Bandai Games had 138.2 billion yen ($1.15 billion) in net sales, a 6.4 percent rise. The sector enjoyed 11.5 billion yen ($95 million) in operating income, an 18.6 percent increase, year over year.

During the year ending March 31, some 23.4 million Namco Bandai Games titles were sold worldwide. Of those, 13.5 million were for consoles, and 9.8 were for handhelds. The company's top SKU for the year was Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (PlayStation 2 - 1.18 million units), followed by Tekken: Dark Resurrection (PlayStation Portable - 1.0 million) and Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2 (DS - 871,000).

Rounding out Namco Bandai Games' top 10 were: Tekken 5 Platinum (PS2 - 737,000), Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (PS2 - 650,000), Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Plus (PS2 - 531,000), Super Dragon Ball Z (PS2 - 466,000), Ace Combat Zero (PS2 - 444,000), Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai (PSP - 415,000), and now-budget-priced Soul Calibur III (PS2 404,000).

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kazuyasongoku

So the goal is to take over as Namco Bandai's CEO and then onto global domination.

Posted Jan 6, 2008 12:43 am PT
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theKSMM

9.8 million units on handhelds...wow. There's no doubt anymore that the portable gaming segment of the market is viable and sustainable.

Hopefully the success of the Tekken franchise will get them to push ahead to bring the first natively-crafted installment of the franchise on the PS3. Cha-ching!

Posted May 16, 2007 6:26 pm PT
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breyva

i personaly think DBZBT2 is the best fighting game ever, u can plan ur moves n fight free style and make ur own combos, cant wait for DBZBT3 if dey make it

Posted May 13, 2007 3:38 pm PT
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PSPZero

Awesome, my 4th most favorite gaming company is doing well, and hope to see more future releases such as Tekken 6, Soul Calibur IV, Tales series, to increase their profit more lol

Posted May 12, 2007 6:45 am PT
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matrixman2k

Good to know they are doing extremely well. I suppose it can only be a plus for gaming.

Posted May 10, 2007 12:44 pm PT
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Billipop

Because of all of this money that they are making they have no excuses whatsoever for not providing online multiplayer for the Tekken,Soul Calibur,and Ace Combat series for now on.Add full analog control for the Tekken series for now by the way Namco Bandai,OK?

Posted May 10, 2007 12:38 pm PT
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I know and understand personally why Tekken 5,Tekkenark Resurrection,and Soul Calibur 3 make it rain for them.I can't vouch for all of the other games and everything else that they are getting filthy rotten rich for.

Posted May 10, 2007 12:33 pm PT
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kage_53

Yay for Namco. Boo for Bandai. I hope Namco's quality of games dont suffer from Bandai who make bad games all the time.

Posted May 10, 2007 10:54 am PT
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Pastehunter

Awesome . Tekken DR hits 1 million

Posted May 10, 2007 9:36 am PT
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thesethcohen

woo? i dont really care. There only good for Gundam games, though gundam games for japan the western ones suck...Crossfire anyone?

Posted May 10, 2007 8:29 am PT
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s3KtOr

@Selfdestruct9
"Eww, now they're gonna make more crappy gundam games. . *throws up. . *"

I betcha the onl;y Gundam games you only played were the crappy ones.

Posted May 10, 2007 8:10 am PT
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BranKetra

Well, with all of this heightened income, there should be room on the table for online multiplayer for Tekken 6.

Posted May 10, 2007 7:59 am PT
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banodyne

Hmm. Interesting that they didn't mention their Xbox Live Arcade, Wii Virtual Console, and PlayStation store downloadable games.

Posted May 10, 2007 7:37 am PT
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Rizer

As long as more Soul Edge / Soul Calibur games come around the corner sooner or later, it's all good to me.

Posted May 10, 2007 7:06 am PT
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Selfdestruct9

Eww, now they're gonna make more crappy gundam games. . *throws up. . *

Posted May 10, 2007 5:53 am PT
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chrisdojo

great for them. not too many great games though....

Posted May 10, 2007 5:21 am PT
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NamcoKun

Namco = [heart]

Posted May 10, 2007 5:13 am PT
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tubarao1

where xbox games? MUAHAHAH

Posted May 10, 2007 4:37 am PT
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Sharvie

Good to hear they're doing well.

Posted May 10, 2007 3:19 am PT
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kelindas02

kenshinhimura: they did fix the bug in SC3... It's called the Soul Calibur 3 the arcade edition.

Posted May 10, 2007 1:40 am PT
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RaiKageRyu

Wow, Tekken: DR sold a million units. Considering it's on the PSP, I find that amazing. Guess, I will grab a copy.

Posted May 10, 2007 1:11 am PT
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Makhdoom82

Any game publisher earning a lot is a good news !!!

Posted May 10, 2007 1:03 am PT
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Thorpe89

Well, I certainly supported them. Got a few of their games. Most recently I got Ridge Racer 6.

Posted May 10, 2007 12:07 am PT
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DoctorFu

Sony is great in that they stick to their guns all the way.. Not like Microsoft's Xbox who only goes for the latest and greatest. Darn?

Posted May 9, 2007 11:15 pm PT
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Doolum

Incredible how Playstation titles show up all the way.

Posted May 9, 2007 10:12 pm PT
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asmodeus_z

Let's hope they develop some good games for the XBOX 360.

Posted May 9, 2007 10:09 pm PT
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anarchicgoth

good for them more games please

Posted May 9, 2007 9:57 pm PT
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lew_0911

Good for them. Now make some more tales for DS/PSP.

Posted May 9, 2007 9:31 pm PT
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Bio_Spark

If I'm a total and complete nerd for any series, it would likely be the Tales series. I do so love those games. Eternal Sonata looks excellent as well.

Posted May 9, 2007 9:28 pm PT
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zsc4

This is strange news....

Posted May 9, 2007 9:27 pm PT
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ShockG707

Random thought in 3...2...1 :

The Namco Bandai logo looks like the Dayquil medicine logo.

http://shauna.opishposh.com/images/dayquil.jpg

Posted May 9, 2007 9:26 pm PT
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1_Blood

Shoot, make more Tales games and ship them to NA.

Posted May 9, 2007 9:01 pm PT
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BIGboss600

with all these billions of dollers i still dont know how people in the video game industry get paid video games cost millions to make and they make millions so thats like 2 years of hard development work and i got 30 thousand each year? no wonder game dev elopers make as much as my mom and thats why i dont want to be one.

Posted May 9, 2007 8:55 pm PT
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comthitnuong

How about giving us a good Gundam game now?

Posted May 9, 2007 8:53 pm PT
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Uchiha_madara

Naruto sold that much and become 2nd top seller.... WOW.. 3rd should com eout

Posted May 9, 2007 8:52 pm PT
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ag1002

those are big numbers ........ O_O

Posted May 9, 2007 8:51 pm PT
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iAkuma

This is awesome news

Posted May 9, 2007 8:45 pm PT
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Trogeton

Just knowing that they are on the ps2 should say enough

Posted May 9, 2007 8:25 pm PT
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gamenux

Damn, most of those games are for ps2... people are still buying it... wow.

Posted May 9, 2007 8:12 pm PT
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rome_tx

Great job. Now let's see some more Tales games.

Posted May 9, 2007 8:04 pm PT
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mexisnake

Tekken is amazing.

Posted May 9, 2007 7:47 pm PT
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kinnikid

Man, still no word on Charlie Brown's All-Stars. I guess it was never meant to be...

Posted May 9, 2007 7:30 pm PT
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fathertroy

good for them

Posted May 9, 2007 7:19 pm PT
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OfficialBed

sweet

Posted May 9, 2007 6:19 pm PT
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pcmacro

TEkken FTW

Posted May 9, 2007 6:18 pm PT
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god_yggdrasil

maybe they can put more money into their games now. Tales games could use graphical updates. if that could be so then they;d f*** up every game in their path! TALES FTW!!!

Posted May 9, 2007 6:17 pm PT
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JamesL007

Nice, I hope they make some better stuff now, Peace

Posted May 9, 2007 6:12 pm PT
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Sheiko

Hooah this means better stuff!

Posted May 9, 2007 6:08 pm PT
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cobrax80

nice!

Posted May 9, 2007 6:04 pm PT
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tonemd_basic

good to see Tekken DR was a million seller on the psp