Capcom announced this morning that they have cut their earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013 based on weaker than expected sales of Resident Evil 6 and the delay of Monster Hunter 4 in Japan.
The publisher did not reveal updated shipment numbers for the latest addition to the Resident Evil series and would only say that the game’s “strong” sales at launch have “subsequently weakened”. Capcom initially reported that they had shipped 4.5 million units during RE 6‘s launch and they were targeting total worldwide shipments to reach 7 million units over the life of the title. While it wasn’t stated in the press release, sales likely slipped from their target after the game received a less than enthusiastic reception from reviewers.
An updated target for total Resident Evil 6 shipments was not provided, however, the reduction makes it likely that Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo will remain the publisher’s best-selling game with 6.3 million units shipped worldwide life-to-date.
“Ya Ta!”
As for the Monster Hunter 4 delay, the publisher noted that the game has been pushed back from its March 2013 target and will now launch during “the next fiscal year”. The extra development time will be used to “raise the quality” of the 3DS game.
In total, the weaker than expected sales of Resident Evil 6 and the Monster Hunter 4 delay resulted in Capcom having to slash their prior forecast of ¥105,000 million in net sales and ¥15,800 million in operating income to ¥93,500 million and ¥10,000 million respectively. Net income was also effected in the revision, cut from ¥9,800 million to ¥9,500 million.
