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Konami profits fall 94%

Japanese publisher ekes out $3.83 million in net income during recession-wracked, MGS4-less quarter.

Given the state of the global economy this year, many publishers are having a hard time living up to the sales figures of yesteryear. Konami's challenge is doubly difficult, as the publisher not only has to compete with general economic malaise but also last year's massive Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots launch.

Those players covering their sensitive bits represent Konami's investors, while the soccer ball is a metaphor for a quarter without Metal Gear.

Those players covering their sensitive bits represent Konami's investors, while the soccer ball is a metaphor for a quarter without Metal Gear.

Konami today announced results for its first fiscal quarter (three months ending June 30), and they were predictably down. Across its gaming, arcade, health club, slot machine, and other businesses, the company posted revenues of ¥55.98 billion ($585 million), down 21 percent year-over-year. Konami still managed to turn a net profit for the quarter, but the reported ¥367 million ($3.83 million) represented a precipitous 94 percent drop from the prior year period.

In the digital entertainment division--which includes software, arcade units, and collectible trading cards like the Yu-Gi-Oh series--sales were down more than 45 percent year-over-year, falling from ¥44.85 billion ($469 million) to ¥24.6 billion ($257 million). The publisher's biggest game releases for the quarter were the latest edition of its Power Pro Major League 2009 baseball series, as well as Winning Eleven Playmaker 2009 for the Wii (from the franchise known as Pro Evolution Soccer internationally).

Konami's best-selling genres were soccer (860,000 sold), games based on animated TV shows (300,000 sold) and baseball games (240,000 sold). By comparison, the publisher sold 3.94 million Metal Gear games worldwide in last year's fiscal first quarter; this year's number was 160,000.

Konami's sinking numbers can't be entirely pinned on Metal Gear Solid 4. The publisher's sales are also down sharply from the same quarter in 2007, when it brought in ¥60.65 billion ($634 million) on the strength of its baseball and soccer games, bolstered by strong sales of Elebits and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops.

Looking forward, the company said it "will place particular focus on the development of animated games and original games in addition to sports and music games, which are Konami’s strengths." Specifically, the publisher name checked the Pro Evolution Soccer and Dance Dance Revolution series. It also said it would be focusing more on marketing downloadable games for consoles.

192 Comments

  • lilmurfer

    Posted Sep 29, 2009 9:03 am GMT

    rising and peacewalker are coming

  • Flinet91

    Posted Sep 27, 2009 3:49 am GMT

    I would buy all the MGS if they made it to the xbox 360...

  • 06JRM06

    Posted Sep 13, 2009 2:08 pm GMT

    If they do what is being done with God of War 1 & 2, they should see a nice increase in sales. I'll be first in line to buy a HD port of MGS 2 & 3. And if they throw in MGS 1? Psh, I'm already at the store!

  • gnrlstuart

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 6:13 pm GMT

    what has konami got that nobody else has? that 3/4 of console gamers want but cant have due to ''exclusivity''? cmon konami, we want it. you need it.

  • Silent--killer

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 4:46 pm GMT

    I can't believe it 94%!, look like they are out of new ideas. Really sad for big company like Konami.

  • jmartin1016

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 2:21 pm GMT

    As long as they are still in the black.

  • Misfit1119

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 2:04 pm GMT

    Hah! That's pretty funny seeing what happens when there's no new Metal Gear Solid title to make them seem like they're really competitively in the industry.

    Joking aside this is pretty harsh. I hope the staff can survive this.

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 11:58 am GMT

    remake or port mgs3

  • vigoureuxEVIL5

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 6:03 am GMT

    Perhaps microsoft could buy out Konsami's contract? except I doubt that alot as Sony and MS are sworn Archrivals. hey, they should make a game like that!

  • vigoureuxEVIL5

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 5:59 am GMT

    That caption was the funniest ive seen gamespot write...

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 2:20 am GMT

    @shani_'boy'101,

    Its mindless, ignorant comments like that, that do nothing more than fuel 'Fanboy-ism', therefore also re-enforcing the point that you yourself are in fact a 'fanboy', well done!

  • OF-5

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 10:50 pm GMT

    urgh fan boys... if you really care about Konami go buy a couple thousand Yu-gi-oh cards or something.

  • Topgamer220

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 8:09 pm GMT

    lol @D3A7HJ0K3R

  • jeffv541

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 7:36 pm GMT

    I hate fanboys

  • D3A7HJ0K3R

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 7:00 pm GMT

    Moral today is: Cut Yu Gi Oh and stop making games about it, now you could save yourselves.

  • joynul

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 4:24 am GMT

    oh well they will have a better year next year with mgs rising and peacewalker. but 94% down thats signs of a failing business if it was any other company.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 8:20 pm GMT

    Just remembered - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (360). It was 2-years ago.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 8:15 pm GMT

    94% is painful. As much as I love them, I can't remember the last Konami game I purchased.

  • FinalDuo1886

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 9:04 pm GMT

    Well all the best and most anticipated up coming titles aren't coming out till next year, so this is destiny too change.

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 1:10 pm GMT

    Kojima Productions made mgs4

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 2:33 am GMT

    Lets not forget guys, Konami simply 'Published' MGS4, they did not make it! Why is it, do you think that games Devs choose Ubisoft, EA, etc instead of Konami, is it that Konami are quite loyal to Eastern games Devs and are'nt keen on western devs, because thats they way it seems to me, same goes for Capcom. So when i see a "94% fall", i dont feel shocked at all. They should broaden their horizons.

  • MagicOneUp

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:17 pm GMT

    @railroberto2007
    the ONLY thing sony can do to bump up it user installed base is to give it away for free! They have done it in the past and it went like wild fire

  • MagicOneUp

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:14 pm GMT

    thats what you get for being a one trick pony. 360 is well and strong without MGS. But konami needs $$$, there's one thing it can do... what will happened to sony?!!!

  • andrew_ribbons

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:18 pm GMT

    "How much more money would Konami had made if MGS4 were released on the X360, or Halo (series) released on the PS3?"

    The point being Halo made Bungie and MS collectively enough throughout the series to purchase a small country. Multi-platform was entirely not required. MGS4 for Konami and Sony...didn't.

  • 008Zulu

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 4:02 pm GMT

    Never understood the concept of "Exclusive to this console only!" concept, sure the console's parent company pays the Dev X amount of dollars to sign the exclusive deal for their unit only, and as a short term deal it has advantages, but 1 year removed and you have reports like Konami just now. How much more money would Konami had made if MGS4 were released on the X360, or Halo (series) released on the PS3?

    Exlcusive deals only hurt the developers and restrict overall game enjoyment by the central mass that are Gamers.

  • Vari3ty

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 2:39 pm GMT

    94% drop? Oh... my...

  • Inconnux

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 2:17 pm GMT

    @ kytomasi the Xbox hardware is definately powerful enough to run the game, but storage would be a problem as it would have to ship on several DVD's to make up for Bluray's capacity.

  • Halcalix

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 1:11 pm GMT

    @underfined420

    If they transfered MGS4 to the Xbox they would have to go over some things. Basically, it mocks the 360 in ways, and the game is full of Apple devices. I don't really think Microsoft would want that on their console to be honest.

  • railroberto2007 posted Aug 7, 2009 12:56 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    railroberto2007

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 12:56 pm GMT (hide)

    xbox 31 mill , ps3 24 mill , wii 52 mill. undefined420 who did you say had the most successfel gaming console this time around? a price drop and 6 months would make ps3 ahead of xbox. and mark my words its in the works right now.

  • undefined420 posted Aug 7, 2009 12:48 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    undefined420

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 12:48 pm GMT (hide)

    What a load of @#$@@# MGS would fully be able to play on the xbox. The specs are really not that different at all.. Looks like next time, MGS won't have an exclusive due to how bad they're suffereing. No doubt about it now.. Bet they're kicking their asses thinking logically why woulnd't we put MGS on all consoles. After all Xbox is the leading most successful gaming console this time around..

  • DoctorBedlam

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 11:42 am GMT

    Konami should look at what they produce that is clearly of a higher quality (and that sets new standards in quality) and run with those. Take what they've learned there and apply it instead of clamoring around with this game or that.

  • kytomasi

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 11:30 am GMT

    its funny how people say Konami needs MGS to boost sells and stuff like wow. A series has to end somewhere and it ended with 4. MGS4 wont be ported to Xbox because it isnt powerful enough (not trying to bash it). Konami's new project will give them the boost they need.

  • ps3loverr

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 10:59 am GMT

    ya they should start on mgs5 or a new castelvania or contra but i would love to see dance dance revolution on the ps3 ddr was so fun on the ps2 but konami only release games very slowly its been a long time since mgs4 released they shouldve making another while the years passed but their profit will probably fall

  • brendanhunt1 posted Aug 7, 2009 10:15 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    brendanhunt1

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 10:15 am GMT (hide)

    mgs4 wont be on xbox.
    1. its not powerful enough
    2. there are things in the game that would need to be changed to suit microsoft.(eg psycho mantis and the ps1, blu ray disk mentioned, metal gear controlled by psp.)
    3. more work needed on newer titles such as rising and peace walker.
    4. sixaxis used in game
    5. 50gb of spaced used even with feature having to be cut out of the game already

    however since mgo uses a different server. it is possible, for ps3 and xbox players to play in the same game.

  • Elzy109

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 10:12 am GMT

    ouch, Komami made some good games, I hope they bounce back

  • Solidshark21

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 9:52 am GMT

    If i was konami i would put their uncanny xmen game and simpsons game in the arcades. Plus i think it was them that created the tmnt arcade games, so i would put those on the psn arcades and the wii as well. After that i would say just branch out. Stealth seems to be a big one for them so maybe they should try to aquire and fix the tenchu series.

  • gameweasl

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 9:42 am GMT

    FIFA spanked Pro Evo...

  • nelsonminator

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 9:19 am GMT

    Too bad there are no plans to release a MGS4:Final Edition like past subsistence/substance versions. I would include more camuflage patterns and costumes, more facecamo like all the 4 snakes, young and old. More gadgets like the EM shield that Ocelot used in SOL to deflect bullets and missiles. Demo Theater. Since MGO is already out, there is no need to include it this time so, more missions is definite a must, and please, THE Original MGS Theme INCLUDED! This score was great, but compared to Snake Eater's this falls short. There was no plagiarism involved, no one was claiming someone elses "exact" work as their own. So It can be used! THERE IS KONAMI'S PROFIT !

  • Tombackman_5

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 9:15 am GMT

    They'll be fine.

  • MATERAZZI_23

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:56 am GMT

    They made almost $ 4 million in three months, what's so bad about that??

  • scarface_dm posted Aug 7, 2009 8:52 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    scarface_dm

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:52 am GMT (hide)

    Simply port mgs4 to 360 and get instant revenue!!!! They made an already bad mistake making it for ps3 only,,,,give me mgs4 on 360 or die!

  • TroyBtxe

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:15 am GMT

    I hope they don't bring MGS4 to the Xbox. It's one of the PS3's dominant exclusive titles... and always has been. They'd prob have to put the game on two or more discs. Furthermore, I don't think the 360 can even handle the game.

  • TheArcade

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 7:41 am GMT

    Konami should release some of their 3rd party multiplayer beat 'em up Arcades like X-Men and the Simpsons for XBLA, PSN & Wiiware. That will guarantee them revenue. Especially now when they're in a financial crisis.

  • Clive-Owen

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:27 am GMT

    c'moneee! bring MGS4 on Xbox to boost sales!

  • shkar

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:19 am GMT

    No MGS ,,,means no more interest in KONAMI .........After all the winning eleven series never improve or evolve and every year it's the same thing with only the latest player transfers being the change...

  • brian_13un

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:00 am GMT

    Ouch, Konami really needs MGS to increase sales

  • bioghost

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 5:36 am GMT

    At least its not loss of millions, don't worry Konami you'll get well soon

  • zeky2k7

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 5:22 am GMT

    Let's hope this doesn't affect MGS rising or peace walker.....

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