Monster Hunter World's Success Helps Boost Capcom

Monster Hunter: World is truly a phenomenal success. Capcom announced today that the game has now shipped 7.9 million copies worldwide since its release at the end of January. This is good as of March 31, and it's up from the 7.5 million figure announced in March.

Capcom said Monster Hunter: World is a "massive, record-setting success," adding that it's now Capcom's "best-selling title in company history." That may be true by the way Capcom measured sales, but other Capcom games have actually sold more units. Whatever the case, Monster Hunter: World is a huge success, and that's encouraging to see.

Capcom announced the sales figure as part of its latest earnings report for the fiscal year ended March 31. The Monster Hunter: World sales helped Capcom's overall net revenue reach ¥94.5 billion (up 8.4 percent), with operating income coming in at ¥16 billion (up 17.5 percent).

In addition to Monster Hunter: World, Capcom called out Monster Hunter XX and Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers for Nintendo Switch as top performers. Looking ahead, Capcom said it wants to "strengthen digital download sales" to help boost overall revenue and profitability; digital content is higher margin than traditional boxed media. Capcom also plans to further invest itself in the esports market, at least in Japan.

"In response to the worldwide excitement surrounding esports, and the increased attention paid to them within the Japanese market, Capcom is committed to making this sector a priority area of investment for business resources, and has established a new, dedicated esports division and facilities," Capcom said.

You can read Capcom's full earnings report here.