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Konami Revenues Slip In Challenging Market
Over the last nine-months Konami has seen declining profits. Metal Gear Solid 4 set the bar very, very high, and the publisher has had difficulty matching that success. The rough economy, console price-reductions, new portable gaming devices, and high-profile titles are cited as “arousing demand” in the overall game market that Konami simply couldn’t deliver on.
How bad was the decline in revenue? After the nine month period ending on December 31, 2009, Konami had $2.11 billion in revenue, down from $2.92 billion. Profits declined 40 percent from $203.67 million to $121 million.
Konami’s software sales also decreased from 22.35 million to 15.53 million. In particular, unit sales from the Metal Gear Solid series plummeted from 4.5 million units to 650,000. We’re going to go ahead and say not releasing a Metal Gear game in 2009 is probably what hurt overall Metal Gear sales. At least they have Peace Walker and Rising coming up.
Konami’s arcade business also took a hit. The publisher blames penny-pinching gamers and Swine Flu as factors for decreased interest in arcades.
Konami’s fiscal year ends March 31, and Konami hopes that revenues reach $3.43 billion and that profits hit $176.91 million.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker releases on May 25. Will you be helping Konami reach their profit goals by picking up the PSP title?
Source: Gamasutra
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