Capcom Explains Lost Planet 2's Failure

Capcom readied a number of collaborations for Lost Planet 2. Shown here, a tie-up with Monster Hunter.

Capcom shared its quarterly earnings yesterday and cited Lost Planet 2 as one of the reasons for a 70% drop in operating profits.

While the company said the game "underperformed its projection substantially," Lost Planet 2 was actually its top selling game for the quarter. New earnings materials released by the company today list the game as having shipped 1.5 million copies worldwide. This beats out Super Street Fighter IV's 1.35 million and the Monster Hunter 3's overseas (Europe and North America) sales of 690,000. All three titles were released in the quarter.

Back in May, Capcom shared sales targets for the upcoming fiscal year. For Lost Planet 2, it listed 2.2 million units.

During a Q&A session at an earnings briefing today, company reps were asked why the game underperformed. Two reasons were cited. First, competition is tough in the shooting genre and they did not differentiate LP2. The other reason is that because the game was delayed from its original release period, they could not give it adequate promotions.