{"id":46111,"date":"2025-03-26T14:04:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T05:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=46111"},"modified":"2025-03-26T14:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T05:05:03","slug":"japans-aaa-game-industry-performs-strongly-as-5-out-of-8-major-companies-hit-record-breaking-share-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-aaa-game-industry-performs-strongly-as-5-out-of-8-major-companies-hit-record-breaking-share-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s AAA game industry performs strongly as 5 out of 8 major companies hit record-breaking share prices\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The shares of the majority of publicly traded AAA game companies in Japan rose to all-time highs during February and March 2025, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.serkantoto.com\/2025\/03\/26\/japan-gaming-stock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">industry analyst Dr. Serkan Toto<\/a> on Kantan Games. This includes major players Sony, Nintendo, Konami, Capcom and Bandai Namco.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The AAA games industry has been facing worsening conditions in recent years, with mass layoffs, studio closures and cancelled games becoming a distressingly common occurrence in the West. But amidst this, Japan\u2019s major game and console developers have been showing strong performance. While peaks in share price are influenced by wider economic factors, the five aforementioned game companies have, as Kantan Games notes, been performing very well over the past few years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1255\" height=\"714\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1255px) 100vw, 1255px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250220-44555-header.jpg\" alt=\"Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater\" class=\"wp-image-44558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250220-44555-header.jpg 1255w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250220-44555-header-380x216.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250220-44555-header-768x437.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Nintendo and Sony have maintained their dominance in the console market with the Nintendo Switch and PS5 respectively, and, combined with its track record in the mobile and sports game market, Konami has made a successful comeback into the AAA scene with <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/konami-reports-record-high-quarterly-profits-driven-by-silent-hill-2-and-other-game-releases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hit releases like Silent Hill 2 driving profits<\/a>. This momentum is not likely to stop either, as Konami is set to release the much-awaited Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Silent Hill f.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Capcom on the other hand, has seen growth (in operating profit) for the last 13 consecutive years thanks to its consistency in releasing new hits and clever sales strategies for catalogue titles. The company is on track to update its 13-year-run as its annual plan for the current fiscal year <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/capcom-reports-35-drop-in-operating-profit-in-the-past-nine-months-but-full-year-forecast-remains-ambitious-ahead-of-monster-hunter-wilds-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">relies heavily on Monster Hunter Wilds<\/a> \u2013 which has seen massive commercial success so far, selling over 8 million copies in three days.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1255\" height=\"710\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1255px) 100vw, 1255px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306-45299-header.jpg\" alt=\"Monster Hunter Wilds\" class=\"wp-image-45304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306-45299-header.jpg 1255w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306-45299-header-380x215.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306-45299-header-768x434.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s not to say that everything is perfect, as Bandai Namco Holdings, for instance, recently incurred <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-online-in-state-of-insolvency-due-to-8-2-billion-yen-loss-and-negative-net-income\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">large financial losses<\/a> due to the discontinued MMORPG Blue Protocol, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-online-developer-of-blue-protocol-to-be-absorbed-by-bandai-namco-entertainment-and-disappear\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dissolved its online game subsidiary<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-studios-staff-silently-reduced-by-over-100-people-japan-pension-service-database-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reduced staff by 100 people<\/a> (which is rumored to have been executed using some unsavory business practices). On the flip side, the company <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-anticipates-highest-profits-to-date-in-current-fiscal-year-reporting-113-net-profit-increase-in-past-nine-months\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">e<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-anticipates-highest-profits-to-date-in-current-fiscal-year-reporting-113-net-profit-increase-in-past-nine-months\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">xpects to see the highest profits since its founding<\/a> as the 2024 fiscal year wraps up. Although Bandai Namco does a lot more than just games, a big contributor to these profits are titles like Elden Ring and its Shadows of the Erdtree DLC, as well as Dragon Ball Sparking ZERO, which <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/dragon-ball-is-bandai-namco-best-selling-ip-this-year-with-sales-almost-doubling-thanks-to-dragon-ball-sparking-zeros-success\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">saw tremendous success outside of Japan<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1241\" height=\"709\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1241px) 100vw, 1241px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/20240624-32867-002.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Protocol\" class=\"wp-image-32874\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/20240624-32867-002.jpg 1241w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/20240624-32867-002-380x217.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/20240624-32867-002-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/20240624-32867-002-600x343.jpg 600w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to layoffs, it\u2019s important to mention that part of why they don\u2019t tend to happen in Japan is due to the country\u2019s labor laws. However, this is not the only reason, as major Japanese game companies continue to be profitable enough to keep hiring (albeit <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-game-companies-hiring-power-has-sharply-declined-according-to-industry-recruitment-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some sources say that hiring power has declined in recent years<\/a>). Moreover, companies are also improving conditions for their developers, as Konami recently <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/amidst-mass-industry-layoffs-konami-is-raising-salaries-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row-human-resources-are-the-source-of-our-competitiveness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raised base salaries for the fourth year in a row<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20240306-28197\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Capcom started offering more competitive starting salaries<\/a> to attract new talent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five out of eight of Japan&#8217;s major publicly traded AAA game companies have seen share prices reach all-time highs in the past two months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":31964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[261,17],"class_list":["post-46111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-financial-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46113,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46111\/revisions\/46113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}