When it comes to big video game publishers, they always want to have a good fiscal year for themselves, as it shows they made the best decisions possible with its gaming releases. A company like Bandai Namco releases a bunch of games during a single year, and you could very easily argue that its success rate is hit-or-miss, as we’ll talk about soon. However, in 2024, they’ve had two big hits that are definitely helping the company overall. As noted by the company itself in a “financial notice,” the publisher is increasing its projects for yearly profits, largely because of Elden Ring and its incredibly popular DLC.
That might not seem like the game you were expecting to help boost sales numbers, but it’s true. The main game had a huge surge of sales before its DLC dropped, with an estimated lifetime sales of 25 million. Then, when the DLC dropped, a lot of those players got it, and that helped get the company some money as well. Go figure.
It says a lot about the quality of FromSoftware titles, even when it’s just DLC, that people aren’t just eager about them, but they’ll buy it in great numbers to see what it’s like. It definitely helped that the DLC has been anticipated for two years, so people were highly anticipating it.
The other game that’s done well for the publisher recently, albeit not one that’s mentioned in the financial notice, is Dragon Ball Sparking Zero. This was another anticipated title that had plenty of hype before its launch. Then, they made it so people who got certain versions could play the game a few days early, which helped drive up the hype even more. When the game finally launched, it sold over three million units in a day! We haven’t heard new numbers since, but it’s incredibly possible that it’ll be over five million by now. So, again, another huge hit.
The irony is that Bandai Namco has also been the subject of some bad news recently. It was claimed that many of the licensed IP titles that they made in recent years haven’t sold well, leading to many canceled games and a practice of trying to force people to resign. While the publisher has denied this, it has raised several questions about their actions.
While the increase in sales projections is nice to hear, it’s also something you have to wonder about happening again with equally good titles to help it alone.
