Capcom has record Q1 performance despite poor Resident Evil 3 sales

Capcom recently published a press release featuring sales figures for Q1 of the current fiscal year, announcing that it has made record sales despite the relatively poor performance of Resident Evil 3.

The press release is based on the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, meaning that it pertains to the three months between the end of the last fiscal year (March 31, 2020) and the end of the first quarter for this year (June 30, 2020).

"Net sales and all profit items hit record levels for a first quarter, driven by major new title release and digital sales growth," reads the press release. For context, net sales for the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year as of June 30, 2019 were 17.9 million yen. One year later, that figure has skyrocketed to 23.7 million yen, indicating a whopping 32.2% increase.

Despite making record sales, however, arcade operations alone were down 56.3%.

"In this business, stores were forced to close temporarily due to the impact of COVID-19," reads the press release. "Although they subsequently resumed operation, their performance did not recover to normal levels, and they posted a significant decrease in both sales and profits."

As a result, sales were primarily driven by digital contents, which went up from just shy of 14 million yen to 21.5 million yen, marking a massive 53.7% increase. This comes as no surprise given that approximately 80% of Capcom's game sales are digital.

Capcom says this was helped by the fact that Resident Evil 3 "deliver[ed] solid sales," but it's important to note that Resident Evil 3 paled in comparison to Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 7.

Resident Evil 3 sold approximately 2.7 million copies in three months, but Resident Evil 7 shipped 3.5 million in just five weeks, whereas Resident Evil 2 sold 4.2 million copies in the same time window. However, these games launched in January of 2017 and 2019, respectively, meaning that sales were tied to Q4 of the relevant fiscal years as opposed to Resident Evil 3, which launched in April of this year, i.e. Q1 of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.

The press release also mentions that Monster Hunter: Iceborne played a significant role in reaching record sales figures for Q1.

In related news, it looks like we're getting a new Resident Evil Village trailer later this month.