One of the largest Japanese gaming companies, Konami, released a report that stated a 4.9 percent in consolidated revenue in the 2022-2023 financial year. They generated about 299,522 million yen, which equates to about 2.2 billion American dollars, based off the three months leading to March 31st. In fact, Konami’s Gaming & Systems segment booked a 47.9 percent increase of 5.17 billion yen, or 38.4 million American dollars.
However, Konami’s operating profits fell by 38.4 percent: this year reached 46,185 million yen, or 342,6 million American dollars, profits when in 2021 they reached 74,435 million yen, or 552.1 million American dollars. In addition, growth for the company has slowed down in recent years. Though Konami is still performing well, this decrease in profits raises some concerns as there is some indication of future struggles to come.
“For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, the situation still remains uncertain due to issues such as the prolonged Ukraine conflict, rapid fluctuations in exchange rates caused by tight monetary policies around the world and a surge in resource prices,” reads the report. Furthermore, Konami explains that the market in North America and Australia have regained their standing prior to the pandemic while other nations seem to still be recovering.
“Meanwhile, the situation, in which Covid-19 has once and again spread and calmed, improved due to factors such as progress made with vaccinations, and socioeconomic activities are being normalised thanks to the relaxation of behavioural restrictions. Economic activity is expected to recover further once Covid-19 has been downgraded as Class 5 under the Infectious Disease Control Law in Japan.” stated one source.
The digital entertainment division at the company generated about 214,363 million yen, that is about 1.57 billion American dollars, throughout the fiscal year with 0.7 percent decline from 215,010 million yen, which is also about 1.58 billion American dollars compared to the previous year. These do appear to be small amounts, however, as Konami highlights some positive aspects of that year. One such highlight is the strong performance of Konami’s DIMENSION arcade cabinets in North America and Australia. The division remains the strongest sector of Konami, especially, with its mobile titles like Professional Baseball Spirits A (ACE) and Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel being the biggest performers.
Although, these decreases in numbers are not being overlooked. In fact: “Despite the impact of soaring component costs caused by global supply chain disruptions, profitability has recovered due to various cost reduction initiatives” stated another source. Particularly, the group-wide profit falling by 36.3 percent to 34.9 billion yen, or 259 million American dollars may be one of the reasons that Konami is shutting down service to the sister mobile game of Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel, Yu-Gi-Oh: Cross Duel later on this year.
It seems that the company is planning on using future projects to bring Konami back on its feet. In fact, the anticipated reboot of the Silent Hill franchise across multiple platforms seems to be at the forefront. There has been talk of the series receiving mobile releases, but no official announcements have been confirmed yet.