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The story
Nihon Falcom has revised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending September 2026 upward, with sales rising from ¥3.6 billion to ¥4.3 billion (up 19.4%) and operating profit climbing from ¥2.2 billion to ¥2.8 billion (up 27.2%). On 5ch’s hardware/industry (“geha”) board, a debate broke out over whether this strong performance was driven by the company — long a PlayStation exclusive — finally releasing the “Sora no Kiseki” (Trails in the Sky) remake simultaneously worldwide on Switch and Steam. Posters threw around a mix of theories: the effect of gaining new users on Nintendo hardware, the situation with Nippon Ichi Software, which had previously handled overseas releases, and the presence of the Chinese market via Steam.
FY ending September 2026 earnings forecast
Sales: ¥3.6B → ¥4.3B (up 19.4%)
Operating profit: ¥2.2B → ¥2.8B (up 27.2%)
Source: gamebiz.jp / Original article here
What people said
Thanks to Steam China, basically.
So PlayStation alone just wasn't gonna cut it, huh.
The barrier was Nippon Ichi Software America.
Means 'wind' in Indonesian.
The guy ('shosi') who used to say that isn't around anymore though.
Different crew now.
Sounds like Nippon Ichi let a huge fish get away.
Realistically, Nippon Ichi's own business has seen falling profits.
What they escaped from was Nippon Ichi Software.
Nippon Ichi's doing fine too, with Honokurashi (a game title).
That one's not even on Falcom — the overseas versions Nippon Ichi used to handle took so long to make that they weren't turning into profit.
Year over year:
Sales: ¥2.61B → ¥4.3B
Profit: ¥1.34B → ¥2.8B
For reference, back when they only released on PlayStation, hitting double-digit-billion-yen profit happened maybe once every few years. Since picking up momentum on Nintendo hardware, they've hit double digits every single year.
Why'd they stick to a PlayStation-only policy for so long…
Seriously, why.
They only had 40 employees, so all they could manage was the domestic PS version.
Back then basically nobody did simultaneous cross-platform releases anyway. That became doable once Switch came along, but by then the Kiseki series had moved so far along that going multi-platform felt pointless at that point.
It's way more than 'minor.' 45% of the hardware Sora no Kiseki 1st players use is Nintendo hardware. And yeah, we know Steam's dead last and barely selling.
If you mean this, the total's over 100%, so Switch and Switch 2 are probably double-counted.
According to Falcom's actual financial results, Western sales are roughly double Asia's, though.
Right now, in terms of new-user numbers, Switch and PC (Steam) are where most of it's coming from.
If we want this to keep going long-term, we need to properly put out titles on those platforms too and really work on building awareness there.
https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/430/4430552/
The reason they slotted in the Sora no Kiseki remake was to bring in new users. Kai no Kiseki is PS-exclusive, but its user base is clearly shrinking.
(The cause was limiting the platform to PS)
https://twitter.com/michsuzu/status/2001560439508046122
https://twitter.com/thejimwatkins
So PS5's shrinking, and the Sora no Kiseki they put out on Switch/Steam to grab new users is selling great and driving this boom, which means…
Oh…
Funny how the results show up the second they put some distance from PS5. ('shugoi' — a mocking, cutesy spelling of 'amazing')
Of course sales go up when you go multiplatform. Look at Monster Hunter Rise.
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That very Sora no Kiseki is booming, triggering an upward earnings revision ❤
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In other words, this proves PS5 was the shrinking 'barrier' hardware all along
This leaves zero room for rebuttal — it's basically logic harassment ('rojihara,' slang for an argument so airtight it feels like bullying) at this point… 😭
Whether it's Nintendo or Falcom, they hire more people when business is good — Sony's the only one that cuts staff.
Back in the Switch 1 days, Nippon Ichi was overseas raking it in selling Falcom games, after all.
Not so much 'end it' as — they should probably just wrap it up properly.
Oh, PS5-kun…
ChatGPT ('Chappy'): 'Coming right up!'
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Nihon Falcom has long developed its “Kiseki” (Trails) series as a PlayStation exclusive, partly because back when the company had only around 40 employees, it had its hands full just making the domestic PS version. Starting around 2018, the company expanded onto Switch and Steam, and with the “Sora no Kiseki” (Trails in the Sky) remake in particular, it carried out a simultaneous worldwide multi-platform release. Opinions in the thread are split over whether the “Switch effect,” “Chinese demand via Steam,” or “the simultaneous worldwide release itself” is the main driver of the growth. Some posts cited financial reports and an interview with the company’s president, but the cause can’t be pinned on just one factor that easily. There are also comments about the relationship with Nippon Ichi Software, which used to handle overseas development, but these include speculation from some users and aren’t officially confirmed facts — worth keeping in mind. It’s also worth flagging that posts treating the move away from PS5 as “proof” of the turnaround are conflating correlation with causation.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (“geha”)) thread “Falcom Upward Earnings Revision.”
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