Capcom Q2 FY24/25 Q&A : Kunitsu Path Of The Goddess didn't meet Sales Expectations , DR1D and AA:I and MvC Collection are on track as planned

[Ryuichi Naruhodo]

From Their Q2 FY24/25 Q&A Session , Its In Japanese so will use DeepL Translation

第2四半期に新作4タイトルが発売されたが、それぞれの立ち上がりについて伺いたい。特に、『祇：Path of the Goddess』や、『デッドライジング デラックスリマスター』は今後シリーズとして期待できるのか。

『祇：Path of the Goddess』は、発売前のレビュー集積サイトや、ユーザー評価は高かったものの、計画本数には届きませんでした。今後プロモーションを継続する予定です。『デッドライジング デラックスリマスター』は計画通り販売しており、11月にパッケージ版の発売予定もあるため、継続したプロモーションを実施していきます。『逆転検事1&2 御剣セレクション』や『Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics』についても計画通りに推移しており、後者は11月にパッケージ版の発売も控えているため、引き続き拡販を強化していきます。

Four new titles were released in the second quarter, and we would like to ask you about the launch of each of them. In particular, can we expect “Gion: Path of the Goddess” and “Dead Rising Deluxe Remastered” to become a series in the future?

Although “Gion: Path of the Goddess” was well received by review sites and users before its release, it did not reach the planned number of copies. We plan to continue promotion. Sales of “Dead Rising Deluxe Remastered” were as planned, and we will continue promotion of the game as a packaged version is scheduled for release in November. Sales of “Ace Attorney 1&2: Goken Selection” and “Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics” are also on track as planned, and we will continue to strengthen sales promotion of the latter as a packaged version is scheduled to be released in November.

They Think The Reason for the game not meeting Sales expectations is that they didn't market it enough

新作タイトル『祇：Path of the Goddess』が計画未達となったが、『モンスターハンターワイルズ』のプロモーションにおいて懸念はないか。

『祇：Path of the Goddess』は完全新規タイトルでありながら、話題喚起や認知度向上へ向けた事前プロモーションが十分ではなかったことについて課題として認識しています。シリーズとして実績のある『モンスターハンターワイルズ』とは異なるため、同タイトルのプロモーション面への影響はないと考えています。

Your new title “Gion: Path of the Goddess” fell short of your plan, but do you have any concerns about the promotion of “Monster Hunter Wilds”?

Although “Gion: Path of the Goddess” is a completely new title, we are aware of the fact that we did not promote it enough in advance to generate buzz and raise awareness. We do not believe there will be any impact on the promotion of “Monster Hunter Wilds” because it is different from “Monster Hunter Wilds,” which has a proven track record as a series.

Also interesting tidbit , Capcom estimates that Games on average takes from a Year to Year and half to recoup its costs , not sure if they mean generally or they mean their own games

新作タイトル『祇：Path of the Goddess』や『ドラゴンズドグマ 2』のリピート本数の進捗を踏まえて、今後マーケティング施策をどう対応していくのか伺いたい。

発売前後にピンポイントで、巨額な広告宣伝費をかけプロモーションを実施し、初速の立ち上げをする手法が最近の販売施策の傾向として見うけられますが、当社はそのような手法は従来用いていません。タイトルの見込める売上からプロモーションにかけるコストを割り出し、長い期間かけてじっくり販売していきます。発売後、平均的に約1年～1年半ほどで開発費は回収できますので、その後、販売価格を下げていったとしても、利益率は8～9割を見込めます。マーケティングの考え方はこれまでと変更はありません。

In light of the progress in the number of repeat sales of your new titles “Gion: Path of the Goddess” and “Dragon's Dogma 2,” how do you plan to respond to marketing measures in the future?

The recent trend in sales promotion is to conduct pinpoint promotions around the time of release, spending huge amounts of money on advertising and publicity, in order to achieve a rapid start-up. Instead, we take a long time to carefully market a title by determining the cost of promotion based on the expected sales of the title. On average, development costs can be recovered in about one to one and a half years after the release of a title, so even if the selling price is lowered after that, a profit margin of 80-90% can be expected. Our marketing approach remains unchanged.

They also credited the Asian region sales for MH for being a Major factor in increasing repeat sales

リピートタイトルの本数が伸びている地域を教えていただきたい。

「モンスターハンター」シリーズの本数が特にアジア地域を中心に伸びています。

Please tell us about the regions where the number of repeat titles is growing.

The number of “Monster Hunter” series titles is growing, especially in the Asian region.

More Q&A here

https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/data/result.html

 

[Lelouch0612]

Monster Hunter Wilds will be gigantic in Asia, big area growth on Asian countries excluding Japan.

 

[Gimmick]

Always wondered why Monster Hunter became so big, it's an odd situation.

I played through Kunitsu, it was great. If that wasn't on Game Pass, people would barely notice it at all.

 

[SirArthur]

I am not sure how they can say that marketing was the main reason Path of the Goddess did not sell well. Its a niche genre, that was on Gamepass, 50$, which some see as high, and no physical (might not be a big factor, but now on the holidays it would have been a nice grab of the shelve type game).

 

[Ryuichi Naruhodo]

I am not sure how they can say that marketing was the main reason Path of the Goddess did not sell well. Its a niche genre, that was on Gamepass, 50$, which some see as high, and no physical (might not be a big factor, but now on the holidays it would have been a nice grab of the shelve type game).

I am interested to know Capcom Sales estimations for a game that was ( quoting your words ) " niche genre, that was on Gamepass, 50$, which some see as high, and no physical " + No Switch Version even though there are Old Gen Versions , Did they overestimated the steam sales for it and thought the Tower Defense aspect of it will sell great on Steam ?

Hopefully the not satisfaction of Kunitsu sales wise won't replace the New AA experiences pipeline with a flood of worthless $50 deluxe remasters pipeline for PS3/X360 Games

 

[SirArthur]

I am interested to know Capcom Sales estimations for a game that was ( quoting your words ) " niche genre, that was on Gamepass, 50$, which some see as high, and no physical " + No Switch Version even though there are Old Gen Versions , Did they overestimated the steam sales for it and thought the Tower Defense aspect of it will sell great on Steam ?

Hopefully the not satisfaction of Kunitsu sales wise won't replace the New AA experiences pipeline with a flood of worthless $50 deluxe remasters pipeline for PS3/X360 Games

That is not a great timeline lol. Hey maybe DRDR has horrible legs and they either better price possible ps3/360 ports or simple don't do them (they arent a ton of good ones imo).

Maybe they see Path of the Goddess as "oops we misjudge the market on that game", but still have that spirit to try new things.

 

[Ryuichi Naruhodo]

That is not a great timeline lol. Hey maybe DRDR has horrible legs and they either better price possible ps3/360 ports or simple don't do them (they arent a ton of good ones imo).

Maybe they see Path of the Goddess as "oops we misjudge the market on that game", but still have that spirit to try new things.

When they run out of PS2/GC Remakes and PS3/X360 Deluxe remasters , by that time it will be succeeded by PS3/X360 $80 Remakes and $60 PS4/X1 Deluxe remasters xD , As you know Cough Cough Newer Cough Cough Generations needs to experience those games Cough Cough in their standards Cough Cough , Why spending those money and effort and time and workforce for a risky new experiences while i can spend it safely for cough cough the newer generations cough cough

 

[KarlRemarx]

I am not sure how they can say that marketing was the main reason Path of the Goddess did not sell well. Its a niche genre, that was on Gamepass, 50$, which some see as high, and no physical (might not be a big factor, but now on the holidays it would have been a nice grab of the shelve type game).

I mean, I think PotG was going to be an uphill struggle to market anyway, but the major trailer appearances for the game didn't really offer a coherent message about the game's genre, moment to moment gameplay, etc. Which means it fell back on an aesthetic whose closest relative is the well known mass-market hit, Otogi (lol).

Part of me is happy Capcom are still willing to bet on new ideas, but the other part of me is wondering why this and ExoPrimal get greenlit with so many dormant franchises who would have more obvious mass market appeal.

 

[Godzilla]

Kinda sad for PotG considering it's a really really good game, and the gameplay loop is addicting. It always felt like a match made in heaven for Switch/Handheld games, so it made no sense why it missed the platform

It really fit the "Switch" idea: Graphics aren't particularly impressive, it's a "slow" game overall", gameplay doesn't require a lot of fine tuning and stages are not long enough, pick up and play that fit a handheld system (do a few stages, stop, repeat, etc...), it was HEAVILY influenced by Japanese mythology and culture, etc... (and we known who is the market leader there)

It was always going to be hard to market that game, especially in the west, because of the gameplay and style but it didn't make itself any favors by missing the Switch. Of all the games "Switch could have saved", i feel this one is one of the few that actually met the criteria to be saved by the Switch.

 

[StardustTraveler]

Shame about Kunitsu-gami. At least the MvC and AAI collections did well.