Namco Bandai posts $66.7 million loss for first half of year
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 6th 2009 at 12:40PM } 
Namco Bandai has reported a net loss of ¥6.04 billion ($66.7 million) for the first half of its fiscal year, which began in April. During the same period last year, the company posted a net income of ¥1.28 billion ($14.14 million). Despite this year's first-half hiccup, the publisher still expects to earn ¥8.5 billion ($93.6 million) in net income by the end of its fiscal year (ending March 31, 2010). After all, there are those 2.5 million copies of Tekken 6 waiting to be sold.
Namco Bandai's software sales for the period were led by the Ben 10 franchise, as Alien Force and Protector of the Earth combined to sell approximately 810,000 units (not exactly Guitar Hero numbers, eh?). Even with Tekken 6 in its second-half roster, Namco must be pulling for a miracle. But then, the holidays are a magical time.
Source – Financial Highlights [PDF]
Source – Consolidated Financial Report [PDF]
Namco Bandai's software sales for the period were led by the Ben 10 franchise, as Alien Force and Protector of the Earth combined to sell approximately 810,000 units (not exactly Guitar Hero numbers, eh?). Even with Tekken 6 in its second-half roster, Namco must be pulling for a miracle. But then, the holidays are a magical time.
Source – Financial Highlights [PDF]
Source – Consolidated Financial Report [PDF]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aaroniero Arruruerie @ Nov 6th 2009 12:43PM
Ah no, noh
Me dont think Tekken 6 will sell that much, right sempai?
Mogster @ Nov 6th 2009 12:47PM
You are that guy from yesterday, arn't you? You're just going through the espada from Bleach, arn't you?
Aaroniero Arruruerie @ Nov 6th 2009 12:48PM
My other account wont work
Darth-san said it was banned, is he right sempai?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 6th 2009 12:49PM
He admitted it earlier.
Please, leave the flaming of this moron to the professionals.
The Anti Troll Defense Force: Protecting Joystiq from the scum of the Internet.
Mogster @ Nov 6th 2009 12:44PM
Welll a new Dragonball game is about to be released upon the masses, so I predict they will have, in percentage about...ohh I dunno...over 9000 profit?
NitroMikeo @ Nov 6th 2009 12:47PM
YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAH
NitroMikeo @ Nov 6th 2009 12:45PM
If they didn't have Tekken, they'd be screwed lol.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 6th 2009 12:47PM
Time for Soul Calibur V. I'd buy it.
LokeSTL @ Nov 6th 2009 12:47PM
Maybe they shouldn't be so snobby about releasing their games worldwide. There is only so much money to be made in the Asian countries, especially during a worldwide recession. Let's hope that they adopt a more international release policy in the near future.
Dreaded Fear @ Nov 6th 2009 12:53PM
I don't ever remember buying a Namcoi game in my life, except for Tekken.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 6th 2009 12:54PM
Not even Pacman?
AoE @ Nov 6th 2009 3:34PM
Wow, really? So no Soul Calibur, no Katamari Damacy, no Mr. Driller, no Pac-Man, no Ridge Racer, no Splatterhouse, no Time Crisis, ever? You've missed out dude...
S. Tiger @ Nov 6th 2009 1:00PM
Hey. Namco. Where's the Tales games? Why don't you FUCKING RELEASE SOME?
IcelandTerrorist (stormtrooper190) @ Nov 6th 2009 2:35PM
i dont think namco read's this blog.
S. Tiger @ Nov 6th 2009 4:47PM
I don't think Namco listens to the US Tales fans at all, even when they put polls up on their official website.
BlueXArmed @ Nov 6th 2009 1:12PM
Quick, everyone! Go buy a copy of The Munchables!
Seriously, though, do it.
Meh @ Nov 6th 2009 2:57PM
Ah-ha, you want to change the loss to $66.6 million?
TX2 @ Nov 6th 2009 1:20PM
You know what would be a cheep money maker?
Klonoa 2 port. My PS2 games have this weird delay on my tv anyway.
Also Sigma Star Saga Sequel. WayForeword games these days usually mean automatic viral marketing.
Baanu_Rass @ Nov 6th 2009 1:30PM
7 step solution:
Step 1: Go get a Star Wars license, preferably New Jedi Order era
Step 2: Combine it with your Ace Combat games
Step 3: Include co-op campaign
Step 4: Release it in North America
Step 5: Charge me $15 to fly as Anakin Solo/Tahiri
Step 6: Release Swarm War and Legacy as DLC
Step 7: Profit
NervousXtian @ Nov 6th 2009 1:32PM
Those Afro Samurai sales must have been even worse than it seemed..
Seriously though, Namco Bandai doesn't own a lot of "must have" IP these days.
Back in the day multi-player fighters were just about all you had for 2 players, now just about every game ships with some sort of multi-player online component.
If you are relying on Tekken to save your company.. that's pretty scary.
FinalDragoon @ Nov 6th 2009 2:24PM
You know what Christmas miracle I want out of Namco-Bandai? Give us a Western release date for Tales of Graces. Or perhaps any of the other half-dozen Tales games you have refused to localize.
NOT ME @ Nov 6th 2009 2:27PM
Well all it would take is one GOOD Dbz game perhaps multiplat to get it going....but then again isnt atari in charge of those games
Mogster @ Nov 6th 2009 3:21PM
No. Atari lost their right to DBZ games. It now lies with Namco Bandai. The new one, Raging Blast, comes out in a few days. Play the demo, it's awesome!
SoshiKitai @ Nov 6th 2009 6:36PM
How about getting their new DS and Wii games? Both excellent.
SuperPanda @ Nov 6th 2009 3:04PM
Tekken's numbers are DOWN thanks to all the bad press it got due to the lag.
The game was obviously rushed to meet the fall-winter window, and it showed, and now it backfired.
maxpontiac @ Nov 6th 2009 3:28PM
Bring Ace Combat out to the PS3. Plenty of users such as myself would buy it in a heartbeat.
Considering how good the series moved on the older Playstation consoles and how the PS3 is selling very well, this really should be a no brainer.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 6th 2009 3:29PM
They should start launching their JRPGs on the PS3 to help expand their sales. Tales Of Vesperia and Magna Carta come to mind as games that'd sell good with the PS3 crowd. You can't launch them a year later and expect people to care all that much.
S. Tiger @ Nov 6th 2009 5:05PM
Not a hardcore Tales fan, huh?
FlashbackX01 @ Nov 6th 2009 5:00PM
Hey Namco, why don't you sell your rights to Hellgate: London to a company that might want to actually do something with the franchise.
djpopmdr38 @ Nov 7th 2009 3:02AM
I agree with you 100% there. I haven't bought another Namdai game since they've taken to cockblocking support for Hellgate. It actually ran well after the 1.2 patch, at least on SP mode, although I would randomly fall through the level and end up at the entrance of the level, and the only lacking thing on my laptop is the processor (Just meets minimum)
HotLimit @ Nov 6th 2009 5:52PM
If you look at the report more closely, Ben 10 only outsold everything else because it was released on multiple platforms. Also the Gundam games were only sold in Asia, yet only undersold games sold on 2 continents by 100k.
xGearSecondx @ Nov 6th 2009 5:58PM
THE FUCK IS MY ONE PIECE GAMES NAMCO BANDAI!?!
GuardianLegend @ Nov 6th 2009 8:45PM
Gundam Senki PS3 and Mobile Ops 360 in the US, plz.
Kneon Transitt @ Nov 6th 2009 9:44PM
Square Enix needs to buy Namco Bandai so we can get a proper remake of Xenosaga/Xenogears into one coherent (is that possible?) story.
And, oh yeah, lots of Pac-Man/Bubble Bobble crossovers for Wiiware. ;)
S. Tiger @ Nov 7th 2009 1:57AM
I would slap you. I would slap you so hard your skull would show. But I cannot. Technology prevents me from doing so. Regardless, your lack of game developer knowledge makes me rage ever so.
NeoX360 @ Nov 7th 2009 12:39AM
It is easy to fix:
Bring out a new Ridge Racer game for all platforms. Ok At the very least for the 360 and PS3.
Make it the ultimate Ridge Racer with ALL previous tracks and cars unlockable. Further add on a course and car creator so we can craft our own tracks and rides.
Call it Ridge Racer Unlimited.
Gold, 100% Gold.
Anyone from Namco reading this? Trust me it will be a big seller.
JACK @ Nov 7th 2009 2:38AM
This reminds me of that lego article where the producers thought it was a lame idea... Why the fuck do they do that ? Do they want us to feel bad for them and buy their games ? Or wtf ! Anyway, glad I'm going to pick up Tekken.
Tim @ Nov 7th 2009 2:39AM
This loss is nothing for Namco Bandai, because...
IT'S OVER 9000
times busy milking Dragon Ball videogames... in America!
Heck, I guarantee you this: profit-wise, Dragon Ball > Tales
SoshiKitai @ Nov 8th 2009 1:26PM
They're not milking it like Atari, though.
Bandai Namco's actually making different types of DB games, instead of Atari's move of rehashes of the same games but with more characters.
...that doesn't mean I dislike Atari's games or anything... I sure do love Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3. ...even if it is mouthful to say.
Diosoth @ Nov 9th 2009 5:19AM
I get the feeling the companies posting losses will go straight for the "piracy" and "used game market" excuses rather than "we simply didn't make games people wanted to buy".