Elden Ring’s success boosts Kadokawa’s gaming division profits by a staggering 1,116%

Kadokawa has released its financial results for the 2nd quarter ended September 30, 2022, and the growth experienced by the company’s gaming division is particularly noteworthy. Due in large part to the massive success of Elden Ring, developed by Kadokawa subsidiary FromSoftware, the operating profit of the gaming division increased by 1116% over the same period in the previous financial year (Financial Results PDF, Page 5).

Elden Ring is the latest title developed by FromSoftware. Following its release in February, the game immediately became a massive hit. In fact, it was reported that worldwide sales had exceeded 16.6 million units as of the end of June (Bandai Namco Financial Statement PDF in Japanese).

The success of the game contributed significantly to the rise in both sales and profits of Kadokawa’s gaming division. According to the aforementioned financial results, net sales for the division totaled 17.1 billion yen (around $116 million) for Q2 2022, an approximate 255% increase over the same period last year. The division’s operating profit totaled 7.6 billion yen (around $52 million), which, as mentioned before, was an astonishing 1,116% jump.

The report states that the primary factor that drove the rapid growth in both categories was revenue related to overseas shipments of Elden Ring. It also mentions that the company’s collaborative/contracted development business and new titles from Spike Chunsoft, such as AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative, also contributed to net sales growth. Kadokawa will no doubt hope to build on its recent success going forward.