KLab, the Japanese mobile game developer behind Bleach: Brave Souls, recorded a net loss of 2.78 billion yen (over $18.1 million US dollars based on recent conversion rates) in the fiscal year ending December 2024. This marked the company’s second consecutive year of losses, with the deficit widening from last year’s 1.81-billion-yen net loss (around $11.8 million).
As a way to show responsibility for the weak performance, KLab’s management has announced that it will be cutting executive payrolls. As a result, all executives who are not part of KLab’s audit/supervisory committee will have their monthly earnings cut by 10% to 30% for an undefined period. Incidentally, Rune Factory developer Marvelous recently announced similar, albeit milder measures, with two of its executives receiving pay reductions for a two-month period.
While KLab’s major games titles like Bleach: Brave Souls and Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team maintained stable sales throughout the fiscal year, overall performance was weaker than forecasted due to complications in the global launch of EA Sports FC Tactical – KLab’s collaboration title with Electronic Arts. The game was initially planned for simultaneous worldwide release within 2024, but this ended up being delayed after a limited-region release encountered problems with player retention rates (source: GameBiz).
On the bright side, EA Sports FC Tactical received a big update in December, and KPIs have shown improvement. KLab is now in discussions with EA about a global launch.
