DoDonPachi series developer Cave sees 527％ yearly profit increase in video game sector 

Japanese developer Cave, known primarily for their bullet hell shooters like the DoDonPachi series and Deathsmiles, have experienced a 527% rise in profits in their game sector over the past year. This impressive increase is thanks to their 2023 licensed mobile game Tohou Gensou Eclipse (pictured above) and the profits from Monster Strike developer Deluxe Games, which Cave acquired in 2022. However, due to the underperformance of other sectors and extraordinary losses, Cave’s annual net profit for the 2024 fiscal year declined by 44.1% to 1,441 million yen. 

As reported in GameBiz, Cave recently announced their consolidated results for the 2024 fiscal year (June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024). In the last decade, Cave has faced financial difficulties- including a five-year period between June 2017 and May 2022 in which the renowned Shump developer was in the red. However, in their fiscal year report for 2023, their profits returned to the black. 

Although Cave’s final profits for the 2024 fiscal year were lower than 2023’s, Cave’s game business boomed, achieving a profit of 1,938 million yen (up by 527% from the previous year). This is thanks in part to the success of Cave’s mobile game Touhou Gensou Eclipse. Released in November 2023, the bullet hell shooter features popular Touhou Project characters and gacha game elements. With around 200,000 users preregistering for the game, it also far exceeded expectations for the number of downloads post-launch. Once released, Cave implemented measures to improve user satisfaction, extending the story and adding extra play modes to make the game more accessible for both Shump newbies and veterans alike. They have also continued to update their popular 2015 smartphone shooter Gothic wa Mahou Otome.  

Another major factor is Deluxe Games. Cave acquired Deluxe Games in September 2022, and a full year of contributions from the subsidiary significantly bolstered Cave’s overall profits for 2024. Deluxe Games’ popular titles Monster Strike and Kingdom Ran generated a stable source of revenue. 

However, the video distribution side of Cave’s business has suffered a year-on-year decline, with losses of 67 million yen (a 32% decrease compared to last year). Although YouTube advertising revenue remained strong, its subsidiary company Capable faced increased competition. Capable is a marketing company that offers livestream and channel support services to content creators, including for YouTube channels by some members of idol group AKB48). 

Cave’s annual net profit for the 2024 fiscal year totaled 1,441 million yen (a 44.1% decrease compared to last year). This is due to the absence of the negative goodwill from the acquisition of Deluxe Games (which added 2,635 million in extraordinary profit to Cave’s final profits for 2023), as well as a loss on impairment of 131 million. Cave has not disclosed its 2025 forecast, citing that rapid fluctuations in the games industry make it difficult to calculate reliable forecasts.