TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Japanese game software maker Namco Bandai Holdings Inc said it aims to at least double operating profit from its game contents operations in three years by boosting its overseas business.
Namco Bandai Holdings expects its game contents operations, which include home-use videogames and arcade game machines, to post an operating profit of 13 billion yen ($144 million) for business the year ending March 31, or 54 percent of its overall operating profit. Namco Bandai, known for such fighting games as the "Tekken" and "Soulcalibur" series, said it aimed to launch 6 to 8 "million seller" software titles in the year starting on April 1, up from an estimated three to four titles in the current business year.
Namco Bandai has sold 2.4 to 2.5 million units of "Soulcalibur IV" since its July 2008 launch, easily exceeding its official sales target of 2.2 million units for the current business year, Shukuo Ishikawa, chief executive of Namco Bandai Games, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
Namco Bandai Games is the video game software and arcade game machine unit of Namco Bandai Holdings.
Ishikawa said it aimed to sell at least 3 million units of "Tekken 6", the latest version of its blockbuster fighting game due for release in the autumn of 2009 for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 and Sony Corp's PlayStation 3. ($1=90.35 Yen) (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Michael Watson)