In case you haven’t gathered it from all the financial stories going up in quick succession, today is the day that companies report their quarterly earnings. Bandai Namco had a solid quarter and it looks like their next quarter will be even better than expected, thanks in part to strong sales of Dark Souls III.
The company’s first quarter net sales hit ¥144,792 this year, opposed to last year’s ¥137,376. Operating income was ¥23,419 versus ¥18,139, and recurring income was ¥22,948 over the previous ¥18,780. Thanks to favorable sales for Dark Souls III, among other things, the company also raised its predictions for this quarter’s earnings.
In addition to Dark Souls, Bandai Namco publishes a variety of other games, primarily under anime licenses, and they cited stable popularity among titles like iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage. Contributing to their strong financials were also animated franchises like Mobile Suit Gundam and GIRLS und PANZER, which is about high school girls competing in sporting tank warfare against other schools.
Dark Souls III was great, and I’m glad to see it’s doing well, hopefully opening the door for Bandai Namco to publish future From Software titles. But now, really, I want to see a video game adaptation of GIRLS and PANZER here in the West because boy, that would be great. (Thanks, DualShockers.)