Japan quake cost games trade $89m, says Enterbrain

Following a number of projects being delayed or cancelled in the aftermath of the recent Japanese earthquake, Enterbrain's CEO Hirokazu Hamamura has estimated that financial cost to the country's videogame industry is in the region of $89 million.

Andriasang has reported that a slide shared by Hamamura at a game industry seminar - posted at Famitsu.com - showed the financial impact on the industry of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

In the graph, the performance of hardware sales - darker blue - and software sales - magenta - are depicted from the fourth week of February through to the fourth week of March.

The pink and light blue segments, shown in the figures from the second week of March, represent hardware and software sales that, according to Enterbrain's estimates, were lost as a result of the earthquake. The vertical axis is split into increments of ¥100m.

The total effect on Japan's domestic market is believed to be some ¥7,330 million - split ¥2,860 million for hardware and ¥4,470 million for software - which, based on current exchange rates, is approximately £55 million or $89 million, split £21.5 million/$34.8 million for hardware and £33.6 million/$54.3 million for software.

Hamamura is said to have made particular note of the relatively poor first-month sales of the 3DS, released on February 26, citing the earthquake has having a major impact on the system's sales when compared to that of the original DS.

Elsewhere, 3DS sales figures were also said to have failed to match the original DS in the US.