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This page contains materials used in earnings presentations and earnings calls with securities analysts and institutional investors. To ensure the fair disclosure of information to investors and shareholders worldwide, this page includes presentation materials, summaries of presentations by speakers and summaries of question-and-answer sessions. Investors can also view Japanese-language webcasts of Capcom’s earnings presentation.

Capcom’s earnings presentation for securities analysts and institutional investors is held following its fiscal year-end earnings announcement, while earnings calls are held quarterly.

FY2023

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    Question and Answer Summary

    What factors resulted in the profitability decline between Q1 and Q2 in the Digital Contents business?
    An asset impairment of approximately 3 billion yen in this business during Q2 put downward pressure on profit.
    What impact did the exchange rate have on operating income in the first half of the fiscal year?
    The impact of the foreign exchange rate on operating income in the first half of the fiscal year was approximately 3 billion yen.
    How do you evaluate the performance of Monster Hunter Now at this point in time?
    Monster Hunter Now has surpassed 10 million downloads globally, driven primarily by players in Japan. Going forward, we look forward to the title’s ongoing growth overseas as well in order for it to contribute to raising awareness of the Monster Hunter brand worldwide.
    What impact do you expect Monster Hunter Now to have on earnings going forward?
    Our primary goal for Monster Hunter Now is to increase global brand awareness for the Monster Hunter series. While we anticipate a certain amount of royalty income for this title to accrue through the second half of this fiscal year, we expect the impact on consolidated earnings to be limited in nature.
    What measures will you take to achieve your new title unit sales target for the full fiscal year?
    During the second half of the fiscal year, in addition to the release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy in January, we plan to release one currently undisclosed major title. Along with these, we intend to achieve our full-year new title unit sales target by continuing to grow sales of new titles released in the first half of the fiscal year, including Street Fighter 6.
    Tell me about the consumer home video game market environment.
    As has been the case to this point, we continue to see healthy growth for Consumer home video games in markets such as North America and have not discerned any significant changes in specific global regions.
    How do you evaluate the market for games on PC?
    As has been the trend in recent years, the market for games on PC is steadily growing and in turn the ratio of our unit sales for the PC platform has continued to rise.
    Tell me your outlook on achieving your full-year unit sales target of 45 million units. Given the situation as of the first half of the fiscal year, will it be difficult to achieve this?
    We aim to achieve our full-year targets with the release of a major new title during the second half of the fiscal year, and in line with our initial plans we will ramp up pricing promotions during the second half of the fiscal year in order to continue growing unit sales, especially for our back catalog.
    Is there any information on new titles you can share in relation to the Monster Hunter series’ 20th anniversary?
    We are unable to share additional details at this time.
    How do you evaluate the performance of Street Fighter 6 and how do you plan to further grow sales in the future?
    The game has received critical acclaim and surpassed 2.47 million units in sales globally by introducing fresh features and modes that appeal to a broader range of users, such as new Modern Type control inputs. However, given the relative size of the versus fighting game market, it is unlikely that the title will immediately achieve results on par with those of titles in the Monster Hunter or Resident Evil series. We look to continue expanding sales for this title over the long term, promoting it in our esports activities in order to grow the fighting game fanbase.
    What impact did Monster Hunter Now have on Q2 earnings?
    While we are unable to disclose specific figures, we recognized a certain amount of licensing revenue in the Mobile Contents business sub-segment.
    I’d like to hear more details about why profitability declined quarter on quarter in the Digital Contents business.
    In addition to the approximate 3-billion-yen asset impairment recognized in Q2, we recognized deferred revenue reversals in Q1, which led to a comparative decline in profitability between the two quarters.
    Is it possible you will recognize further asset impairments in the second half of the fiscal year?
    Not all the investment we make into game development each year will necessarily bear fruit given the creative trial-and-error process of making games. As such, in recent years we have tended to recognize asset impairments of roughly 10-15% of our annual development investment in a given fiscal year. Therefore, it’s possible that we may recognize a certain amount of asset impairments in the second half of this fiscal year as well.
    Compared to Q1, it seems that net sales during Q2 have not grown very much in the Amusement Equipments business despite selling 15 thousand units. Please explain why.
    This is due to a difference in sales channels. We use multiple sales channels concurrently and depending on the channel the unit sales price will change.
    Why has revenue from digital licensing grown so much quarter over quarter?
    This is primarily due to licensing revenue received for providing Exoprimal on Game Pass.
    Tell me what strategies you plan to implement to continue growing catalog title sales.
    We currently distribute our games in approximately 230 countries and regions annually. Going forward, rather than increasing the number of sales territories, we believe that increasing the unit sales volumes in each of these areas will be important. As such, we will promote ongoing pricing strategies while enhancing local marketing efforts. At the same time, we will concentrate on our esports and movie/media efforts with the aim of strengthening both our corporate brand and game brands.
    What is your aim in releasing Resident Evil titles for Apple devices such as the iPhone 15 Pro?
    This is a part of our fundamental multiplatform strategy. We look to maximize our user base by supporting a diverse range of platforms.
    What impact will the Steam Deck have on game sales for the PC platform?
    We do not anticipate this to have a material impact on our PC game sales because of the relative difference between its individual sales volume compared to the overall global install base for PC devices. We will continue to aim for global sales expansion by promoting pricing measures.
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    Question and Answer Summary

    How do you evaluate your first quarter earnings performance compared to your plan?
    Overall, earnings for the first quarter were in line with our expectations, excluding the upward swing in foreign exchange rates.
    How do you evaluate the performance of Street Fighter 6?
    Compared to the internal plan for the title, sales are generally progressing in line with our expectations. We believe that its positive critical reception will work as a tailwind in expanding future sales of the game as a catalog title.
    How do you evaluate the performance of Exoprimal and what is your outlook for this title?
    Given that this game is an all-new IP, the situation is not without its challenges; however, we view the fact that the game has amassed over 1 million players to be positive. Going forward, we will continue to release content for the game while monitoring player behavior with an eye toward expanding sales.
    What are your thoughts on the relationship between critical reception and sales performance?
    While the strength of sales directly following launch will vary from title to title, we believe that high critical scores help build the reputation of a game, which can extend its overall life.
    Why is the average price of catalog titles not lower despite discount promotions run during the first quarter?
    The main reasons for this are contributions from Resident Evil 4, which was released at the end of the previous fiscal year, and the fact that we did not introduce any additional heavily discounted titles in the first quarter.
    What were the development costs for Street Fighter 6?
    We do not disclose specific development costs for individual titles.
    How do you see the progress made in the first quarter compared to your full-year plan? Is it possible you will raise your full-year guidance?
    As we have communicated from the beginning of this fiscal year, earnings will be more heavily weighted in the first half of the fiscal year and our first quarter business results are generally in-line with our internal projections. As such, we have not revised our full-year guidance.
    What is your lifetime sales target for Street Fighter 6?
    While we do not communicate specific figures for internal budgets, we look to outperform the title’s predecessor, Street Fighter V, and are aiming for more than 10 million units over the life of the title.
    What is the purpose of acquiring Swordcanes Studio and what is your future policy regarding M&A?
    We decided to make Swordcanes Studio a wholly-owned subsidiary in order to bolster our development organization, as they have exceptional 3D computer graphics production technology. We will continue to pursue mergers and acquisitions in order to strengthen our development organization, with a view to acquire technology or secure human resources that our company currently lacks.
    Looking at the full year, what are some potential risks in the second half of the year?
    We are not aware of any apparent serious risks at this time. However, steadily building catalog sales, which form the foundation of our earnings, is necessary to achieve our full-year earnings target.
    What are your expectations for Monster Hunter Now?
    Many people participated in the beta test, and we feel that expectations from players for this title are high. We see this as a very important title for further growing the Monster Hunter brand globally and driving expansion of video game sales in the Consumer sub-segment.
    What risks are there for Exoprimal being unprofitable?
    As this title was released during the second quarter, earnings from it will be reflected beginning in that period. We do not expect it to be unprofitable at this time.
    Have initial sales volumes decreased in conjunction with the longer product lives brought by selling games digitally?
    In recent years, along with waiting for discounts, we believe there are a certain number of players that also wait to see how well a game is reviewed after it is released. However, because the reputation of a game among players who bought it directly after its release is linked to its sales volume as a catalog title, we feel that the important point here is creating high-quality games.
    With a number of companies shifting their policy toward domestic development, what are your thoughts on the competition for acquiring talent?
    Acquiring superior talent is one of the most important management issues facing our company, and under the direction of the CHO we are continuing to carry out reforms, such as by revising our compensation and human resources systems. We are also focused on hiring talent from outside of Japan and have implemented improvements including systems to facilitate visits home.
    Is it possible for a new release to become a hit in emerging nations?
    While there are some economically advantaged people who will purchase new releases in emerging nations, we believe there are more players who buy games at reduced prices in these areas. Because of this, in such markets, rather than new releases we have made growing brand awareness a priority for expanding sales of lower-priced catalog titles.
    Is it possible you will adjust your full-year earnings for the sake of steady annual growth?
    First quarter earnings were in line with our expectations, however because our full-year earnings will largely depend on the sales performance of new and catalog titles in the second quarter and onward, it is difficult for us to provide an answer regarding our degree of certainty for achieving full-year targets at this time. All of us are working hard to deliver on our publicly announced guidance.
    Is it possible to reduce development costs in the medium term by adopting new technologies such as AI?
    We have been actively working to shrink costs for some time by carrying out technological research internally, including with the introduction of proprietary development engines such as MT Framework and RE ENGINE. That being said, we expect the development process to grow in step with advances in hardware functionality, and therefore believe it is important to continue to work to reduce costs in the future.

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