Capcom reported its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (three months ending June 30, 2024) and claimed to be “on track” despite substantial year-over-year declines.
According to its earnings release, Capcom achieved ¥29.6 billion ($192.6 million) in revenue in the first quarter, marking a 32.5% decrease year-over-year.
Operating income dropped 46.4% year-over-year to ¥12.9 billion ($84 million), while net income declined 45.1% to ¥9.97 billion ($65 million). The Digital Contents (video games) division generated ¥21.4 billion ($139.2 million) in revenue, down 44% compared to Q1 2023.
Despite a 38% decrease, digital sales remained the primary distribution channel, reaching ¥17.8 billion ($115.8 million). Physical sales fell 73% to ¥2.4 billion ($15.6 million), while mobile revenue grew 150% to ¥1 billion ($6.5 million).
Regarding the decline in digital content net sales, Capcom attributed it to sales being “dominated” by titles released in previous years, such as Street Fighter 6 and Dragon’s Dogma 2, with new releases for 2024 scheduled for the second half of the year.
This explanation appears to be an attempt to distract investors from the poor performance of Capcom’s iOS ports of Resident Evil titles. The mobile releases of Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Resident Evil 7 for high-end Apple devices have all flopped, with sales in the thousands of units, according to Mobilegamer.biz.
Capcom sold 9.53 million copies of its games during this period, compared to 13.5 million in the same quarter last year, representing a 29.4% decline.
The previous year’s boost was due to the releases of Resident Evil 4 Remake and Street Fighter 6. The PC platform, where Capcom implemented DENUVO DRM and The Enigma Protector to deter piracy and modding, accounted for 52% of total sales.
Consoles followed with 41%, and mobile made up 7%. Interestingly, 97.1% of Capcom’s sales came from their back catalog rather than new IPs, which is not surprising.
Despite the significant dip in game sales, other segments performed well. Arcade Operations saw an 18% increase, and Amusement Equipment skyrocketed by 147%.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, released in 2021, continued to sell well, reaching two million units sold this quarter. Capcom noted that the Monster Hunter franchise has sold over 100 million copies globally.
As a result, Capcom is focusing on expanding the franchise to Western audiences with the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds, which aims to lower difficulty and increase accessibility for casual players. Additionally, Monster Hunter Now, a mobile game developed in collaboration with Niantic, has performed exceptionally well, with over 15 million downloads.
Considering how Capcom has been pushing a progressive agenda in their video games lately, it’s no surprise their efforts have sparked controversy.
Capcom did something similar with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, an HD revision of the GBA spin-offs of the Mega Man franchise, which features a “sensitivity warning” that essentially apologizes for the lack of diverse characters.
Given Capcom’s history of self-censoring, such as removing “problematic” elements from E. Honda’s bathhouse stage in the re-release of Street Fighter 2, the release of SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos would likely have been far worse if SNK weren’t involved in its publication.
Recently, Capcom faced backlash for racially swapping an antagonist character in the upcoming Dead Rising Remake, changing Larry Chiang, from being depicted as Asian to a generic White man to avoid offending anyone with stereotypes.
Yet, Capcom continues to produce subpar remakes of iconic games, laden with censorship and cut content. Street Fighter 6, for instance, has sold only 3.3 million copies since May, compared to its predecessor, Street Fighter V, which is the best-selling game in the franchise with over 7.4 million copies sold to date.
With Street Fighter 6 featuring unattractive character designs and significantly downgraded attires for prominent characters, it’s no wonder fans aren’t flocking to Capcom’s latest release.
Capcom stated that its “progress toward achieving the full-year plan was generally in line with expectations,” particularly concerning the sale of digital content.
Recently, Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma 2, which failed to resonate with audiences. The game launched in an embarrassing state, plagued by horrible performance issues and microtransactions for ordinary in-game actions such as limited character customization, fast travel, and even a literal get-out-of-jail card for a single-player title.
Capcom hired Western influencers, including streamer Asmongold and a transgender porn actor, as official ambassadors to promote Dragon’s Dogma 2 in overseas markets. Despite these efforts, the game, filled with mundane fetch quests, sold only 2.5 million copies in its first 11 days and has reached just shy of 3.1 million copies to date.
Looking ahead, Capcom expects to achieve $1.07 billion in net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, aiming for an 8.3% year-on-year growth.
Capcom has several upcoming releases, including the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, previously a Japanese exclusive, and the bastardized Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, slated for October 2024. Additionally, Monster Hunter Wilds is set for release in 2025 and has the potential to be one of Capcom’s biggest hits.
Given the franchise’s impressive sales history, Capcom is making efforts to simplify the game and increase accessibility as it transitions to an open-world format.
Ultimately, these are substantial drops for Capcom that are likely to persist in the near future. As they deplete their supply of Resident Evil titles with retroactively altered and censored remakes, it is almost inevitable that the company will experience a gradual decline similar to other Japanese companies such as SEGA, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco who are all hemorrhaging finances after swearing allegiance to ESG (neo-Marxism.)
These companies are all invested in producing safe and progressive games for global audiences, adhering to Blackrock’s ESG policies and initiatives that aim to defeminize women, increase diversity in character design, and feature representation of various ethnicities and sexualities.
Capcom has long been promoting the agenda set by globalist investments. However, this is the first significant decline they’ve faced since the release of Resident Evil 7, which seemingly saved them from a potential buyout.
With few remaining titles to remake, such as Resident Evil Code Veronica, which sold poorly, and Resident Evil 5, which was criticized by journalists for being “racist“ due to its West African setting, Capcom’s future looks uncertain following the release of Monster Hunter Wilds.
Today, Capcom is seen as just another woke entity that actively alienates its former fans by implementing DEI initiatives into their game design. The botched release of Dragon’s Dogma 2, now priced at $70, and the disappointing launch of Street Fighter 6 have added to the discontent.
Future titles from Capcom appear grim for long-time fans, particularly with their current approach to Dead Rising, which features an unattractive rendition of Frank West, a new voice actor, and race-swapped characters. This is compounded by Capcom’s recent commitment to increasing the percentage of female managers internally and seeking to hire non-Japanese directors for their games.
