If there’s one company that’s really seen a return to form over the last few years, it’s been Capcom. While the company was never in any significant peril, the last decade has been a rocky one with several missteps and a general uneven quality of releases. But they are back on track now, and hitting on all fronts, as they reported record profit for the financial first quarter of 2019.
This is in thanks in large part to great sells of titles like Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry 5, and Monster Hunter World, something they’ve talked about before. Not just the initial sells, but the continuing nature of those sales have continued to trickle down well after their launches (especially Monster Hunter World, which continues to sell even after being the company’s top selling game in record time). This is also chalked up to increasing digital sales prolonging the life of games.
“In this business, as the first quarter corresponded with a transition period between major titles in the overall release cycle, new game launches were limited to a select number of rerelease titles,” said Capcom. “However, driven by an expanded user base, sales continued to grow for Resident Evil 2 (for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC) and Devil May Cry 5 (for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC), both of which are hit titles from the previous quarter. Flagship title Monster Hunter: World (for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC) has also continued to sell well over an extended period, supported by enduring popularity. These catalog titles boosted profit significantly by driving high-margin digital download sales.”
Capcom has been having quite the run, both financially and critically, so they are back in big way. If they can continue this momentum going forward, the company is in the fast lane for big success. The next major release for the company is Monster Hunter World‘s expansion, Iceborne, which will release this September.