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Namco Bandai posts $66 million loss

Publisher maintains forecasts despite sales slump; Ben 10, Afro Samurai, Tales of Vesperia make up biggest sellers; Soulcalibur PSP falls outside company's top 10.

Namco Bandai appears to have scored a hit with the latest installment of its flagship fighting series, as evidenced by Tekken 6's having shipped 2.5 million copies worldwide in its first week. Unfortunately for the Japanese publisher, Tekken 6 didn't arrive in time for the first half of its fiscal year, which ran from April through September.

Who needs Mitsurugi vs. Kratos when you can have a year-old beat-'em-up based on a kids' cartoon license?

Who needs Mitsurugi vs. Kratos when you can have a year-old beat-'em-up based on a kids' cartoon license?

The publisher today released its first-half financial results, revealing a net loss of ¥6.04 billion ($66.52 million). By the same point in the previous year's campaign, Namco Bandai was running a net profit of ¥1.28 billion ($14.13 million). Overall sales were also down, as Namco Bandai took in ¥172.73 billion ($1.90 billion) for the first half, down nearly 10 percent year-over-year from ¥190.80 billion ($2.10 billion).

Despite the losses, Namco Bandai maintained its sales and net profits forecasts for the full year ending March 2010. When it reports final figures, Namco Bandai still expects revenue to be down 6.2 percent to ¥400 billion ($4.41 billion), with a net profit of ¥8.5 billion ($93.66 million).

As for specific games, Ben 10 Alien Force topped the publisher's software chart, racking up sales of 480,000 on the PlayStation 2, Wii, PSP, and Nintendo DS. Something of an evergreen title for Namco Bandai, Alien Force was released in the US last October, with a European debut in February. Another Ben 10 title, 2007's Protector of Earth, was the publisher's fourth-best seller, racking up 330,000 copies sold on the same platforms as its successor. The action series is one of Namco Bandai's biggest overall brands (including toys and hobby sales), with the publisher expecting it to rake in ¥17.5 billion ($192.86 million) this year, nearly as much as the Power Rangers brand's ¥18 billion ($198.35 million) and comfortably above Dragon Ball's ¥14 billion ($154.27 million).

Namco Bandai's second-best seller, Afro Samurai, came in with 420,000 copies sold, just above Tales of Vesperia's 410,000 games sold. Rounding out the top five was Mobile Suit Gundam: Battlefield Record U.C. 0081 for the PS3, with sales of 320,000. Notably, Namco Bandai's first PSP installment in its weapons-based fighting series, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, failed to appear in the publisher's top 10 despite international launches in August and September.

Namco Bandai's Top 10 Games, April-September
Title--Platforms--Global unit sales
1. Ben 10: Alien Force--Wii, PS2, PSP, DS--480,000
2. Afro Samurai--360, PS3--420,000
3. Tales of Vesperia--360, PS3--410,000
4. Ben 10: Protector of Earth--Wii, PS2, PSP, DS--330,000
5. Mobile Suit Gundam: Battlefield Record U.C. 0081--PS3--320,000
6. SD Gundam G Generation Wars--PS2, Wii--310,000
7. Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden--PS2--290,000
8. We Ski & Snowboard--Wii--280,000
9. Tales of Vs.--PSP--270,000
10. Active Life: Outdoor Challenge--Wii--240,000

53 Comments

  • BLuFAlc0n

    Posted Nov 15, 2009 10:01 am GMT

    What Namco needs to do is to release Tekken 6 for the Wii, that would sort them out!

  • peewizzle

    Posted Nov 10, 2009 10:56 am GMT

    wow...ben 10 is their top seller? its like video game crack to these kids huh??

    i have tekken 6 and tales of vesperia and those are great i say find out what the kids will most likely will spend their parents' money and on and milk the hell out of that title

  • method115

    Posted Nov 10, 2009 4:01 am GMT

    @Midnightshade29

    Hey I understand your PS3 owner so for you Namco doing that kind of stuff is great and a good move by Sony. I on the other hand am not a PS3 owner (I used to have one but the games were as interesting to me as what 360 was offering). So essentially this company is screwing me over and the only way I can fight back is with my wallet. I have no problems with Sony it's actually a smart move, Namco on the other hand screwed me over a little.

  • Xtatic324

    Posted Nov 9, 2009 8:32 am GMT

    Tales of Vesperia was awesome.

  • ffviiifreak

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 10:15 pm GMT

    par que!

  • Jag-T1000

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 9:22 pm GMT

    I saw Afro Samurai at Toys R Us for $15.00. Should I buy it? I'm going to think about it.

  • Ranma_X_basic

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 6:18 pm GMT

    only namco games i really cared about was mostly soul caliber,Tekken,Afro samura and tales of vesperia. oh! and Eternal Sonata

  • rgsniper1

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 8:25 am GMT

    Looking at there game line up I can understand how they are coming up short.

  • pikaby

    Posted Nov 8, 2009 5:22 am GMT

    Okay, release Taiko no Tatsujin Wii 2 and watch your sales climb. Count the days to November 19...

  • BLADE7715

    Posted Nov 7, 2009 11:06 pm GMT

    Some companies now are desperate for money and never take the time to "actually" work on the games. Plus they get lazy and use either the same game or take the same idea from a T.V show like Ben 10.

    If they want t boost up sales...they have to make another game and take TIME TO MAKE IT!

  • Zerobeam

    Posted Nov 7, 2009 2:11 pm GMT

    The kids do love that Ben 10...based on that list, I would wonder if NamcoBandai would do games that weren't based off of anime. Perhaps a new IP could breathe some life into this company

  • fritigoerd

    Posted Nov 7, 2009 11:03 am GMT

    When namco , when? When will you understand that what gamers want is the continuation of the Xenosaga series?????? Is that hard?

  • Midnightshade29

    Posted Nov 7, 2009 9:11 am GMT

    @method115 - what crap are you talking about... Tales of Vesperia hasn't made it to the west on ps3 yet... I can't wait till it does like Star ocean 4... You say your a ps3 owner, then why wouldn't you want more content? I want my bluray filled with more content...Sony is doing it right, if they accept bribes by M$ and then want to put the same game out on PS3, a year later, damn right they better be putting more content in there. Sony is doing right by it's consumers. sorry if a butthurt 360 owner is mad that the ps3 game is getting more content. Sorry that you should of waited and bought the game on a real rpg system. Seriously everygame that gets released later will cost the same... to people like myself who don't own the rrod machine, the game is a new game. When I get my copy of star ocean 4 international it will be a new game to me as I have never had a chance to play it...understand my logic there? I only own a gaming Pc and PS3 for consoles (psp,ds,ipod for mobile) I really don't need a 360 and never will.... I am glad they are relasing games that were bribed by m$ over to ps3 when the contract runs out, and am very glad Sony stippulates a more content clause... if they didn't you better believe Namco would be selling that same game without the extra content for the same price....you know they would... easy money.. sony is protecting Ps3 owners by making them make extra content.

  • Glade_Gnarr

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 10:45 pm GMT

    You know you're doing domething wrong when ben 10 is your top selling game.

  • Lisandro_v22

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 9:01 pm GMT

    I hope they bring ToS soon

  • zacho26

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 5:35 pm GMT

    those games suck, its no suprise to me they are losing money.

  • Trogeton

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 5:22 pm GMT

    Wow I was not expecting this

  • shavedballbag

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 4:29 pm GMT

    That's a pretty weak catalog of games.

  • ChidoriBoyU

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 12:55 pm GMT

    sadly for NB they make some great games

    but i gotta say

    YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ToV SOLD WELL ))))))))))))))) (i know 420000 isn't so much but it's still no.3 in their list)

    i still want Tales of VS to be localized though

  • raahsnavj

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 12:21 pm GMT

    I like some of the RPG's they put out but they have been keeping a lot of the features I don't like and throwing out the ones I like. I don't like to see any company fail, but I know what they are making just doesn't appeal to me much...

  • SearchBomber

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 9:17 am GMT

    @Dogar230

    Yeah, that and Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus. Seriously, why does the West get all of the terrible Gundam games and none of the good ones? >_>

  • beny_pimpster

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 8:25 am GMT

    ben 10...ah did they on crack on something?........ah anyways i tried soul calibur psp on my buddies psp i got pissed cause ah not much content hm......seriously right now bandai namco dont have any great titles to choose from...the only namco bandai brand i got and loved are the xenosaga series 1,2,3 and that gundam game rpg with tristan and fritz( i regret buying it but i still finished it) so in sort bandai namco is crap right now lol but maybe if they bring the xenosaga 1 and 2 us version on the ds. i think it might boost they're sales....lolz

  • tekken220

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 8:10 am GMT

    Tekken and Soul Calibur>>>>>>>>>>Ben 10

  • SocaWarrior

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 7:39 am GMT

    If they'd just sell a US version of namco x campcom, i'm sure they'll erase that deficit. (Please sense the sarcasm in this that is cause by my desire to have this game released in a form i can play and understand)

  • Kowai_Kudamono

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 6:45 am GMT

    I didn't buy a single one of their top ten games, though my girlfriend bought Tales of Vesperia. Ouch.

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 5:41 am GMT

    wow....I didn't buy one of those games, but I rented Afro. Solid game

  • method115

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 5:24 am GMT

    I could care less they didn't seem to mind me paying the same price as PS3 owners for a game they made but adding extras for them. I don't care if it's Sonys policy or not it screws me over as a gamer. #1 reason I never buy there games new don't want to support these guys.

  • FabioPizzini

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 2:54 am GMT

    Sorry for Namco-Bandai but i will buy only Ps3 exclusive, no more horrible multiplatform games.

  • alawadhi3000

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 2:32 am GMT

    They deserve that
    I want Ace Combat for PS3

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 2:16 am GMT

    Tekken 6 will boost sales quite a bit.

    Toys R Us also sells Soul Calibur 4 now for only $19, so I picked it up the other day for Xbox 360.

  • Deepflow2

    Posted Nov 6, 2009 1:25 am GMT

    Serves them right.

  • ptysau

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 11:52 pm GMT

    Here's some advice... stop making sh*t games.

  • Kleeyook

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 11:48 pm GMT

    Ben 10 top!!? I'm speechless.

  • SDBusDriver1979

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 10:20 pm GMT

    I'm abit sadden that they haven't announce a new rpg yet for the xbox or ps3. Eternal Sonata was great and Vesperia was even greater. I've enjoyed those games more than any square enix game from the past 5 years. Hopefully they will stop wasting time developing for the psp and make a new Ace Combat and Tales game.

  • Dogar230

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 10:00 pm GMT

    Bring Gundam Senki to the US dammit!

  • lyhthegreat

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 9:37 pm GMT

    haha,thats what you get turning ur back on ur fans.

  • AgentA-Mi6

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 9:13 pm GMT

    Time to release a current gen Ace Combat for the Ps3.

  • ASK_Story

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 8:55 pm GMT

    Well, if they leave out important single player content like an arcade mode in SoulCalibur Broken Destiny, leave out content to be released later on the PS3 like Tales of Vesperia, and sell $100 worth of DLC on a bunch of their games like Ace Combat 4, than no wonder they're struggling a bit. But at least Tekken 6 is good, although I wish there was more content dedicated to the game like a story mode for each character rather than that shallow and unneeded campaign mode.

  • zaiwen

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 8:53 pm GMT

    bring NXC to US shores, another Tales game, Eternal Sonata 2... & ohh no more 4yrs gap for the next installment of Tekken... that can help boost the sales

  • xophaser

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 8:47 pm GMT

    I don't know what they were doing in this time. Tekken 6 graphic could have been much better then it was.

  • GodsPoison

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 7:57 pm GMT

    No tales of Vesperia ps3 US release date or even a confirmation yet? yeesh what are they waiting for bankruptcy?

  • ralphikari

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 6:52 pm GMT

    Namco should have never merged with Bandai, Tecmo not with Koei, Sega not to Sammy, Hudson not to Konami, Taito not to Square-Enix, Psygnosis not to Sony, Rare not to Microsoft, Origin, Maxis, Westwood, Bioware not to EA...

  • KittyHeart

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 6:37 pm GMT

    unfotuately tekken 6 lags like crazy!!

    good game but online is teerible.

  • DFBTG

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 6:36 pm GMT

    It's because they're being jerks and still not releasing info on whether or not the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia will ever make it to North America. Seriously Namco, yay or nay? And please be 'yay'.

  • shadowysea07

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 5:36 pm GMT

    well considering over half of their tales games never get localized and with alot of their games being ported to other consoles of course the sales are going to be low. plus they don't advertise for any of their games.

  • magicianhunter

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 5:30 pm GMT

    @ gatsbythebig And Capcom.And Nintendo.

  • FinalDuo1886

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 5:05 pm GMT

    @ gatsbythepig Basically...

  • runefa

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 4:52 pm GMT

    well, i dont knok but if they release tales of vesperia for the ps3 on the us the sales may go up, and if the release tales of vesperia for the 360 with al the content from the ps3 vertion it would sell too, i dont know if i should say this, but i think that they should try to stop that exclusivity on consoles, exclusivity is only when you have the money to say "i wont bring it to this and that console."
    @Chico_Azteca hola

  • Chico_Azteca

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 4:31 pm GMT

    well if they actually included everything in the game, and not lock the content on it and make you pay to unlock it it would be great


    seriosuly any of you go and check the Ace Combat 5 and SCIV marketplace

  • Javieralijandro

    Posted Nov 5, 2009 4:15 pm GMT

    I guess a namco rpg on ps3 is a no go?
    Dang it, i guess they'll show me some love on wii

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