Sega Reports Console Games Underperformed In Third Quarter

New console games released by Sega in the company’s third quarter underperformed, according to a Sega Sammy financial results presentation.

Sega’s lists its major releases during this period (Oct – Dec 2019) as Persona 5 Royal and Sakura Wars for the PlayStation 4 in Japan, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for the Nintendo Switch worldwide. Sega notes that “sales went below expectation” and that console game profits decreased year-on-year due to the increased expenses associated with the launch of these new games.

As a result, while revenue increased 26% for the “Packaged Games” segment—the term Sega uses for its console games—profits dropped 43% compared to the year prior. Sega now expects 34% increase in revenue but a 50% decrease in profit from its Packaged Games business for the financial year.

According to sales data from Famitsu, Persona 5 Royal had sold close to 245,000 units and Sakura Wars 160,000 units at retail by the end of December. Meanwhile, global sales figures for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have not been publicly divulged.

Sega sold 6.94 million units of new games in its first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year, and an additional 12.39 million units of previously-released games, including those from the Football Manager, Total War, and Yakuza series. The company pointed out that continued sales of previously-released games exceeded expectations.

For its ongoing fourth quarter, Sega lists Yakuza 7 (released last month) and Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers (February) as its upcoming major releases in Japan. Additionally, a localized version of Persona 5 Royal will also launch on March 31st, 2020 in the U.S. and Europe.