Konami Profit Surges As PlayStation Dominates Xbox In Terms of Unit Sales

Japanese video game publisher Konami today reported earnings for the quarter ended June 30, and the results were positive. Revenue and profit both saw gains during the quarter, thanks in part to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes continuing to sell well.

Overall, Konami posted revenue of ¥48.6 billion ($473 million) for the quarter, up from ¥45.6 billion ($444 million) during this quarter last year. In terms of profit, the publisher made ¥1.36 billion ($13.2 million) during the period, a jump of 145.6 percent compared to last year. It's important to note that Konami is not only in the video game business. The company also has a Health & Fitness division, as well as a business unit dedicated to slot machines.

Konami's mobile games, including Dragon Collection and World Soccer Collection, saw "steady sales," while Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes "continued to enjoy strong sales worldwide due to resale orders," the publisher said. The game was released in March 2014, and--despite controversy over its length--shipped more than 1 million copies. A new sales update for the game was not provided in Konami's earnings report today.

Konami said today that it sold 570,000 total Metal Gear games during the quarter, but this is for the entire franchise, not just Ground Zeroes.

Also of note, a presentation slide detailing unit sales by platform (left) shows that PlayStation consoles dominated Xbox. For the latest quarter, PlayStation 3 and PS4 made up 54 percent of Konami's total game sales, compared to 12 percent for Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Looking ahead, Konami said as a result of the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets worldwide, the publisher even more opportunities to reach gamers in new ways. The new games Konami developers for these platforms will "match the characteristics of each device," Konami said. Another area of focus for Konami going forward will be developing titles for not only the US and European markets, but also Asia. The company says it hopes to "enhance local production systems" so that it can create localized content for gamers overseas "as quickly as possible."

One major in-development project from Konami is Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Unfortunately for fans, Konami did not share any new details about this game in its earnings report today, beyond describing the series as being a "leading product" for the company.