Capcom's Sales Slip Due to Lack of Major Releases

Capcom has detailed its financial performance for the six months spanning April 1 to September 30, 2016. The Japanese developer and publisher of the Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter series' reported a decline in sales and operating income.

Sales were cited as $273 million, which is a nine percent drop from the $302 million it reported during the same period in 2015. Operating income, meanwhile, fell from $27 million in 2015 to $16 million in 2016.

According to Capcom this was a symptom of "major changes to [the] industry with the successive releases of VR consoles." Additionally, Capcom said it is mainly focused on releasing minor titles during this period, with major games coming in the second half of the fiscal year.

With respect to its digital content business, Capcom said Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice "sold largely as planned," while re-releases of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 4 "performed steadily thanks to a stable fanbase for the brand." Monster Hunter Generations' sales were described as "solid."

In the statement accompanying the financial report, Capcom spoke confidently of Resident Evil 7, highlighting it as one of its key upcoming titles.

"Resident Evil 7 not only drew the attention of many show-goers at E3, one of the world's largest game trade shows held in the US in June of this year and where VR was in the spotlight, but similarly was also massively successful at the Company’s booth at the Tokyo Game Show 2016, Japan's largest game fair that was held in September and which attracted a record number of visitors," it said.

"At both events the title received lavish praise, showing the company's business strategy of prioritizing the second half of the fiscal year through releasing this fiscal year’s major titles in the second half of the year to be sound."

Resident Evil 7 is set to release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 24, 2017. A demo of the game is available now and it allows players to explore a " mysterious, derelict mansion." Project Kitchen, a VR experience developed by Capcom, is also available on the PlayStation Store for use with the PlayStatin VR.

GameSpot recently got the opportunity to play Resident Evil 7 and found that it continues to break tradition.