TGO Daily | October 29 | Financials Day!
✏️ From the Author
It’s SPOOPY season isn’t it? This will be the last newsletter before Halloween — hopefully you’re all doing something fun :)
I’m not a huge fan of scary stuff. I’ve always appreciated the artistry and aesthetic of horror and spooky things, but I do not like the feeling. Scary video games are too much for me. I wimped out of Resident Evil 7 last year :(
Have a great weekend!
— Adrian
📰 In The News
1. Sony financials
Sony published their Q2 financials, and we’ll specifically be looking at its “Gaming and Network Services” division, which is the gaming segment.
The Numbers:
Sales reached $5.7 billion (up 27% year over year). They credited their console sales for the positive numbers
Operating income fell to $727 million (down 21%)
There was a notable decrease in first-party game sales. Despite having the releases of Ratchet and Clank and Death Stranding Director’s Cut, they couldn’t compete with the previous year’s release of Ghost of Tsushima
The Interesting Stuff:
The PlayStation 5 has now sold 13.4 million units worldwide. 3.3 million of those were in Q2, which is one million higher than Q1, suggesting that supply is starting to ramp up.
The gaming division is Sony’s most profitable, compared to film, music, electronic products and photography
Game software sales are 62% digital for PS4 and PS5 combined, rather than physical.
Sony had a strong quarter, and with them cementing their game releases on PC, things are only going to look better for them.
2. Capcom financials
Capcom published their Q2 financials, with a major year over year success. $616 million in sales, $194 million in net income.
The Interesting Stuff:
Resident Evil Village has now sold over 5 million units worldwide. That’s an extra half million since last July, and the fastest of the recent Resident Evil games to hit that figure
Resident Evil 7 also sold an extra million copies, up to a total of 10 million
The Resident Evil franchise is their real workhorse IP. The recent games have had long legs, selling very well over multiple years. They’re also expanding it out into new films and Netflix series.
Ever since something clicked with the release of Monster Hunter World and RE7, Capcom has been on a tear. Every quarter I’m impressed with their performance — I hope they keep it up.
3. Ubisoft financials
Ubisoft published their H1 financials (rather than Q2 alone). $838 million in bookings (down 5%), $51 million in operating income (down 60%). The dramatic decrease likely has to do with COVID numbers boosting them so heavily last year. Compared to two years ago, they’re up 539% in income.
The Interesting Stuff:
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is already their 2nd most profitable game of all time. Achieving that in less than a year is super impressive, and they will be continuing content releases for it.
Speaking to the next big game in the franchise, they revealed that Assassin’s Creed Infinity will not be a free-to-play game. It was previously announced as a a big always-online game set across evolving time periods.
Three games have been delayed: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, Rocksmith+, and The Division Heartland. All have been pushed to their next fiscal year, which is April 2022 at the earliest.
💡 Worth A Look
Vicarious Visions losing its name after merging with Blizzard earlier this year……………………😠
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris heading to the Nintendo Switch in 2022 ……………………😃
📅 Game Releases!
October 29: Mario Party Superstars
November 1: Unpacking
November 4: Just Dance 2022
November 5: Call of Duty: Vanguard • Let’s Build A Zoo • Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise
🔥 Thank You!
Thanks for reading, and please do respond to this email if you have anything you’d like to comment on yourself! I’d love to hear it :)
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