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Nikkei: Bandai Namco Halts New Arcade Games Due to Arcade Slump

Bandai Namco Holdings released its third quarter financial report last Tuesday, revealing that the company and its subsidiaries report a projected estimate net sales of 560 billion yen (about US$4.91 billion) for the fiscal year that will end on March 31, which would be a 1% decrease compared to the 2015 fiscal year. The company predicts fiscal year 2016's operating income at 43 billion yen (about US$377 million), which is a 23.7% decrease compared to 2015, and a recurring income of 45 billion yen (about US$395 million), which is a 24.2% decrease compared to 2015.

Nikkei reports a slump in arcade game profits as a primary factor in the decrease. During the nine months from April 1 to December 31, Bandai Namco Holdings reports that its arcade games category earned total sales of 34.5 billion yen (US$303 million), a marked decrease from the 42.5 billion yen (US$373 million) in the same nine months in fiscal year 2015. Bandai Namco Holdings is projecting that the category will earn total sales of 52 billion yen (US$456 million) in fiscal year 2016, which would again be a decrease from 2015's 63.8 billion yen (US$560 million) total sales and 2014's 70.9 billion yen (US$622 million) total sales.

Nikkei reports that the company has purportedly halted the release and development of new arcade machines.

The Yo-kai Watch property is the company's highest selling property in its toy and hobby business, but the company expects Yo-kai Watch toy and hobby sales to go down, with a forecast of a 30 billion yen (US$263 million) total sales for the property in fiscal year 2016, which would trend significantly lower than its fiscal year 2015 total sales of 55.2 billion yen (US$484).

In contrast, the company predicts growth for its Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, both in toys and hobbies, as well as in groupwide consolidated categories. The company is projecting 78.5 billion yen (US$689 million) in Mobile Suit Gundam-related sales for the 2016 fiscal year, which is trending higher than the property's fiscal year 2015 sales of 76.7 billion yen (US$673 million).

Sources: Bandai Namco Holidings (Link 2) via Hachima Kikō