Capcom’s share price drops sharply in Japan following ‘soft’ Monster Hunter Wilds sales last quarter
Momentum for the game has dropped, selling only 477,000 copies between April and June
Capcom’s share price in Japan has dropped sharply following news that Monster Hunter Wilds sales appear to have lost momentum.
The company’s share price was sitting at ¥4,283 at the end of Wednesday, but when the market opened today the price dropped 9.5%, hitting a low point of ¥3,874.
Capcom published its financial results for the quarterly period ending June 30, and while it reported that net sales were up 53.7% year-on-year, and that operating profit was up 90.8% year-on-year, it also noted that Monster Hunter Rise‘s sales appear to have hit a brick wall.
Monster Hunter Wilds set a new Capcom record when it was released in March, selling 8 million copies in its opening week and more than 10 million in its first month.
However, the company’s financial report for the quarter between April 1 and June 30 shows that the game has only sold a further 477,000 copies since then, bringing lifetime sales to 10.585 million.
By comparison, Monster Hunter Rise, which is four years old, sold only slightly fewer copies (389,000) during the same period.
Capcom acknowledged in its consolidated financial results that sales for Monster Hunter Wilds had been “soft” for the period, but attempted to put a positive spin on it by pointing out sales figures elsewhere in its catalogue.
“Regarding catalog titles, although sales were soft for Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest title in the series released in February this year, Monster Hunter Rise, a previous title in the same series, continued to see sales growth,” it stated.
“Moreover, following the announcement of the latest title in the flagship Resident Evil series in June, sales of titles in the same series continued to grow, led by Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 4.
“Additionally, efforts to enhance brand value through building wider awareness of the Company’s IPs resulted in strong sales of Devil May Cry 5 and other titles, driving sales of catalog titles to 13.36 million units, up from the 9.26 million units sold in the same period of the previous year.”
Capcom announced earlier this week that some of the extra endgame content planned for Monster Hunter Wilds is being brought forward.
The game’s Title Update 3, which is planned for September, was supposed to include expanded endgame content designed to give players more to do after the credits have rolled. It has now been announced, however, that this content will instead be added to the Version 1.021 update planned for early August.
