Is Capcom’s new mobile game generating revenue?
In September, Capcom released a new mobile game, Monster Hunter Now. The game is published by Niantic, the developer behind Pokemon Go.
In just about a month, it has reached 10 millions downloads, a great start. The title seems to be generating revenue too, at least in Japan.
But how does this affect Capcom’s financials?
Capcom released its second quarter results on October 26th, with sales up 54%, year on year. But its mobile section was weaker. Sales were up 36%, adding about 6 million US dollars year on year. This is not an impressive number considering the scale of Capcom, which sells about 2 billion dollars annually.
One reason is that Monster Hunter Now has been out for only 2 weeks in the second quarter, which ended in September. So the next quarter will be when the impact can be fully measured.
Another reason might be the licensing scheme with Niantic. Capcom said in the Q&A that the aim of Monster Hunter Now is brand recognition and likely to have limited impact on future earnings. This suggests that Capcom may not have taken the risk as they would for their own developing title, and provided the IP for a low percentage.
Please note that although I’ve previously worked for CAPCOM, I have no knowledge of the agreement between Capcom and Niantic.
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