* Aims to double oper profit at game content unit in 3 years
* "Soulcalibur IV" sales beat company target
* Aims to double "million seller" software titles in 2009/10 (Adds details, CEO comments, closing share price)
By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Noriyuki Hirata
TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Namco Bandai Holdings Inc said it aims to at least double the operating profit from its game content operations in three years, giving a glimpse into the new business plan that it will unveil next month.
It aims to do this partly by expanding overseas, which is becoming increasingly important for Japanese video game makers as their home market is shrinking and ageing rapidly.
"I cannot speak for the whole group. But when it comes to games, I would like to double our profit in three years. I see that as my minimum target," Shukuo Ishikawa, chief executive of Namco Bandai Games, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Namco Bandai, known for fighting games such as the "Tekken" and "Soulcalibur" series, said it aimed to launch six to eight "million seller" software titles in the year from April 1, up from an estimated three to four such titles in the current business year.
The holding firm expects its game content operations, which include home-use videogames and arcade game machines, to post an operating profit of 13 billion yen ($144 million) for the year ending on March 31, or 54 percent of its overall operating profit.
Namco Bandai Games is the video game software and arcade game machine unit of Namco Bandai Holdings.
The unit aims to boost the ratio of its game software sales outside Japan to 50 percent in three years from the current 35 percent. "Bringing the ratio to 50:50 is our immediate goal. But in the longer term, it could become 30:70 or even 20:80 (in favour of overseas sales)," Ishikawa said.
Namco Bandai has sold 2.4 to 2.5 million units of "Soulcalibur IV" since its launch last July, exceeding its official sales target of 2.2 million units for the current business year, Ishikawa said.
He also said the company 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.
Namco Bandai has sold more than 33 million units of its "Tekken" games worldwide.
Following Ishikawa's comments, shares in Namco Bandai Holdings closed down 2.9 percent at 908 yen, underperforming the Nikkei average, which fell 2.3 percent. ($1=90.35 Yen) (Editing by Hugh Lawson)