Capcom Reports 73% Drop in Profits Last Year

Capcom's annual financial results reveal the developer and publisher's profits dropped 73.1%--2,167 million Yen, or $23.5 million US--in the past year as compared to 2009.

Capcom explains that Bionic Commando, Dark Void and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles "underperformed their sales and remained weak" while the postponing of Lost Planet 2 and Super Street Fighter IV to its 2011 financial year didn't help either.

Dark Void.

Current economic woes are naturally also cited as a contributing factor to the poor performance, with Capcom explaining that "the video game market leveled-off due to the prolonged recession with declining customer confidence and decreasing demand."

On the arcade front, Capcom's game sales declined though its arcade management arm saw an increase operating income of 162.9% thanks in part to a "profitability improvement strategy" which included closing two "unprofitable" arcades. The industry at large however, Capcom claims, "remained in a downtrend due to the lack of appealing products and the adverse effect of the new influenza or 'swine flu.'"

Yesterday Nintendo reported its own drop in income over the last fiscal year, of 22%.