Capcom has released its latest financial results, revealing big drops in sales and revenue compared to the same time last year.
The company also revealed that Monster Hunter Stories posted "soft" sales figures and the drop-off in interest in Monster Hunter X - one of 2015's biggest successes - impacted the overall bottom line. On the positive side, Monster Hunter Generations (the global name for Monster Hunter X) has achieved "solid" sales which will see the franchise overtake Street Fighter this quarter as Capcom's second biggest series, after Resident Evil.
Moving forward, Capcom aims to push titles like Resident Evil 7 and the forthcoming Monster Hunter XX - which arrives in Japan this March - via "aggressive" marketing:
In the Digital Contents business, sales of Dead Rising 4 (for Xbox One and PC), which was released in December 2016, were firm, while the sales of Monster Hunter Stories (for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems), which targeted younger audiences, were soft. On the other hand, re-releases of popular titles Resident Evil 5 (for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) and Resident Evil 4 (for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) performed steadily thanks to a stable fanbase for the brand. Additionally, Monster Hunter Generations, known as Monster Hunter X (Cross) in Japan and Asia (for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems), achieved solid sales overseas thanks to Capcom's established brand capabilities.
The resulting net sales were 28,428 million yen (down 21.2% from the same term in the previous year), and operating income was 1,461 million yen (down 84.9% from the same term in the previous year).In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017, the Company plans on an aggressive sales campaign with the release of two major titles for the quarter RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard (for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC) and Monster Hunter XX (Double Cross) (for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems) in Japan.
The underperformance of Monster Hunter Stories could spell an end to the title's chances of getting a western release. Were you hoping to play it on your 3DS? Let us know with a comment.
[source dualshockers.com]
Comments 60
I actually thought the change in playstyle would make MH Stories more suited to succeed in the West, I'll be sad if they don't release it here.
Capcom should have had a western release to begin with. This could have been my entry in the Monster Hunter franchise.
They brought it on themselves. I don't know the respective release dates off the top of my head, but it feels like they released MH4, Generations and Stories all within about 12-18 months or so, at least in the West. You can't expect the same numbers to buy every game in that short a timescale - they've saturated the MH market. These are big games that people pour hundreds of hours into. It's testing their commitment too far.
Pokemon needs to be careful of that too. If a Switch title comes out too close to Sun and Moon they should be prepared for a drop in sales.
@gcunit Exactly and now they're going back to the well again with Monster Hunter Double-Cross. How about a Monster Hunter for Switch Capcom, try tapping a fresh market!
Hard to say.
The graphic was indeed Ultra Crisp for 3DS machine.
But the character outfits, monster design kinda not really appeals to me.
I wonder if Capcom can localize to Western due to some Japanese licences such as Chibi Maruko chan, Kumamoto, etc.
This isn't coming to West.
It's really a shame if they don't release Stories over here, since it's the only MonHun game I'm actually interested in at this point anymore.
They're pumping out far too many Monster Hunter games. They're a huge time sink and I've barely scratched the surface of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I have 4 Ultimate and I'm likely to get Generations at some point, but at this rate, I doubt that I'll ever play them as the Switch will probably take up most of my gaming time once the big releases start trickling out on the platform (and it's very likely that Capcom will release Monster Hunter Switch sooner or later, giving me even less reason to play the 3DS games).
I don't understand why they won't revive and/or produce new games in some of their more neglected franchises.
One thing that Nintendo does right is that they generally produce only one instalment of a franchise throughout the lifespan of their hardware (there are exceptions, such as the Mario Party series). Capcom has pumped out too many, too quickly. There are already four 3DS Monster Hunter games in Japan (3 internationally) with a fifth on the way. Overkill, much?
Ehh. Can't say I was too interested myself, but I liked the art style and may have checked it out if and when it came West.
If they announced an enhanced Switch port, it may pique my interest enough to purchase it. I'm still waiting for my mainline Switch announcement though.
Pity cos Monster Hunter Stories sounded like the first one to truly interest me. I've found the MH games just too "grindy" for me with the minimal story.
Like many have said, Capcom have started churning them out at a crazy rate. Either Japanese players storm through them really quickly or they are like the people here who buy only 2 games a year (let's say CoD and An EA sports title) and just play those two games dry over the year before the next instalments.
Just hurry up and announce Monster Hunter Switch!
This game was aimed at kids. The current MH fan base were not interested in it.
Capcom were essentially launching a new IP and you need strong partners if your market is 6-12 year olds
I love MH Generations and even if Stories looks far different from the other Monster Hunter games I would still really love to play it since I like RPG games a lot. I'm also watching the anime and it is surprisingly sad at one point, so I'm still hyped even if the game never might come to Europe.
@Damo Sort out that typo in your headline...tut tut.
Maybe the kick in the behind they need to go and make a new console game
well duh it's a spin off, not everyone would be into it kinda goes without saying imo.
I'd have picked it up. I really hope they do bother with it. Surely it would be more cost effective to localise it and release it anyway, seeing as it's a finished game? What do I know, though.
I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo footed the bill for a translation - like they did with Dragon Quest, just to fill out their launch schedule. Fingers crossed.
If Nintendo lose their exclusivity with Monster Hunter, then... I sense dark times ahead, for the Switch at least.
@WiltonRoots 15 comments and you were the first to notice, thanks for the save!
The Monster Hunter series is pretty intimidating to just jump into, I was hoping for a release of Stories because it just looks so much more fun and accessible, and would have possibly opened the door on the rest of the series for me.
Just give us monster hunter switch!
Probably because they used a giant white phallic monster in their picture for the game.
I don't care just give me MH5 for switch. (I would also buy MHST and MHXX on 3ds in the west)
It's a cute looking game. Shame that the art style and amiibo and the fact that it was freaking Monster Hunter! (one of the best selling games in Japan) wasn't enough to sell over there.
Slightly off topic, but I finished Resident Evil 7 recently and was pleasantly surprised. That game is actually amazing, a true return to roots. I really hope that Capcom does end up porting it to the Switch eventually. Nintendo fans that enjoyed the Resident Evil 2 on N64 and Resident Evil on GameCube will really enjoy it, I think. And actually, as a BIG fan of RE4, fans of that would probably enjoy RE7, too.
Also, for the record, I did NOT think I would enjoy RE7, especially when it was first revealed. You could probably find me saying that if you looked through my comments... I think I'll sneak a peek myself.
Funny how this article, about the under-performance of a franchise that Capcom clearly wants to be MegaMan's substitute, came right before the one detailing a fangame about the latter, with the associated fears of it getting C&D'd by Capcom themselves.
Maybe Capcom should subtly realise that they should focus less on Monster Hunter and more on a... on a dormant franchise... I can't put my finger on which one, though...
Do you get the hint here, Capcom?
... anybody?
Hello?
It was a joke about how this serves Capcom right for forcing Monster Hunter to take Megaman's place as their flagship franchise
Like it was mentioned above, MH games consumes over hundred of hours of my playtime too. I actually skip buying one or two MH new games while still playing the older one.
I was looking at MH Stories as a completely different kind of game. Just like I get excited for a new RPG/jRPG, I thought I would enjoy MH Stories and was really looking foward to it.
I thought Monster Hunter Stories looked pretty awesome. I'm not a big fan of the MH games but I would have bought that one if it released here in the UK.
Shame, because it's one of the best looking games in the series artistically. But, maybe the change in art style plus the change in gameplay style didn't appeal to the people who were buying the previous games in the series in the first place. I certainly think it looks much better than any of the other 3DS games in the series though.
PS. The fact it didn't see a Western release is probably partly to blame, Capcom. Maybe you should learn something from that in the future. . . .
A big concern is that monster hunter will stay on the 3DS for the next few releases, due to install base.
@Damo No sweat
I love MH but I don't need stories. I don't need yearly releases of the game. I've played Gen way less than 4U, and I'm still chewing on it so I don't need another new one until 2018.
This is disappointing because I was really hoping for a localization of Monster Hunter Stories. It could still happen if Nintendo push for it and are willing to help with the publishing. However, I should probably not hold my breath.
@Lord
I bet the next Monster Hunter game will be announced for PS4/Switch in Japan.
Hope they try it out over here, maybe it'll do better in the West. It's was really hyped to play it and get the Amiibo.
Monster Hunter X/Generations is now the second best selling Monster Hunter games of all time. The stability of the franchise is impressive. It sold 15 millions games on the 3DS in 4 episodes, after selling 12 millions games on PSP. It's the biggest franchise of Capcom this gen, far ahead Resident Evil, while Street Fighter completely plummeted.
But the Monster Hunter audience is aging and Monster Hunter Stories failed to renew the audience so the future is uncertain for them. If the Switch manage to create a market big enough that could be good for them, or they'll have to compete on the Steam/PS4/One market where japanese games are stuggling finding an audience and are on a negative dynamic compared to the previous generation.
Milking gone to far?
I feel like Capcom's milking the MH series. They've been releasing a game per year, and I assume that since they maintain the core mechanics, there will be a good amount of people in Japan burn out.
When they released MH3U in Japan, it was 3 years after MH2. They need to give this series a break, even if its for a year.
At the end of the day I think they're releasing too many Monster Hunter games in such a short amount of time.
I really want to play stories though. I hope it still makes it over here despite this problem...
>Milking a franchise
>Drastically change it
>Dont release it in the west
>Complain about low sales
Yup, classic Capcom
Stories was a spin off and looked amazing.
They should release it in the west precisely because it didn't sell that well in Japan.
Let the west make up for it. Surely the sales will justify a simple translotion, no?
A LOT of Monster Hunter fans are going to converge to using the Switch as MOST people see the console as a portable FIRST and not a console first.. It's clear as day.. the whole system IS portable.. every single thing you need is 100% setup for on the go gaming.. PLEASE make a Monster Hunter game for Switch!!!!
Ridiculously milked franchise in sales decline shocker.
I'm certainly not miffed about Stories not doing well, I can tell you that. No need to put out a cynically childish spin-off just to appeal the exact opposite of your series' intended audience, Capcom. Spin-offs are supposed to get new potential fans interested in a franchise, not some peace offering to the desenters. Why would those kids buy it when it had to compete with Yokai Watch 3 and Puzzle & Dragons X? Let alone Pokemon Sun & Moon? Because you made a kids' show for it? Geez...how cynical can you get about your own customers?
Hopefully Double Cross continues to impress, so they don't even consider making the same mistake again any time soon.
I was never a big fan of MH myself, but I was really hyped for this. Stories was going to be the first MH game I'd play if it was localized and it gets me sad to know that this won't happen anymore, considering the poor sales in Japan.
this would have done better on the Wii U....
this would have done better on the Wii U
A spin-off Monster Hunter games aimed at kids was never going to set the world on fire.
It looked like a weird spinoff anyways, so at least they won't try to milk the franchise with spinoffs.
I would have helped them to get another sale if only this was released in the West.
Seems like it should be a wii u game...3ds, nah
@AlexSora89
If it was down to one or another I would gladly never see a new mega man or play the ones I already have again. I love Mega Man by the way.
This was MH for people that can't get into MH. MH fans didn't want it and it just wasn't that interesting for non fans. Probably would have done much better in the west though.
@SetupDisk
Point is, Capcom keeps hyping up Monster Hunter as an effort to make players forget about their dormant franchise. Said effort has gloriously blown up on their faces.
That is really unfortunate. MH Stories was the only MH game that actually looked interesting to me. But I guess with the poor sales, on top of all the character licensing and amiibo, they wouldn't bring this over westside. Although, with the character licensing it's as easy as simply cutting them out.
Honestly..I'm still on MH4U .To many damn monster hunters!! Chill out lol.
Monster Hunter Stories looks the best of all the 3DS MonHun games, it will be a truly sad event if it never comes out outside Japan. I saw they had cool Amiibos also for MonHun Stories, no idea what functionality those had with the game.
Monster hunter stories looked like an awesome game to be sure it give a whole new consept to the games where you actually fight with ur own monsters and it's so cool that if it will ever come to the us I'd buy it the second it came in but it would be really sad if it never sees a global release I guess there were just to many other games that came out around the same time to make a big hit
I miss the old days from the 16-bit era when publishers like Capcom and Konami were constantly taking risks with new IPs and they all had 8-10 quality franchises on the go. These days the budget required to develop a single game is so high that most publishers want to have 3-5 IPs that they focus their effort on and they milk those specific IPs to death. People like Monster Hunter so lets give them a new Monster Hunter game every year!
@kobashi100 Thankfully, you were wrong! It's here and I love it!
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