Elden Ring does it again: Bandai Namco lights a cigar with digital profits up ¥7 billion partly thanks to 5 million+ Nightreign players, and doubles down on Sony collaboration

If I had a nickel for every time an Elden Ring release beefed up Bandai Namco's video game sales figures, I'd have three nickels. We've had Elden Ring, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and now Elden Ring Nightreign.

In its latest quarterly financial results, Bandai Namco reports an appreciable rise in net sales and operating profit compared to the same quarter last year, and most of that profit growth was driven by its digital segment, which covers video games. In total, the company saw sales increase 19.8 billion Yen while operating profit went up 7.9 billion Yen.

Toys and hobby was the biggest segment by sales with a growth of ¥14 billion, but with a much smaller ¥1.6 billion increase in profit. Digital, meanwhile, saw a ¥1.4 billion jump in sales but a sizable ¥7 billion increase in profits.

Bandai Namco highlights two releases for "trends in the digital business." One is Gundam, a trend throughout the company's segments – specifically, SD Gundam G Generation Eternal, which Bandai describes as "off to a solid launch." The other, at a whopping 5 million copies shipped as of last month, is Elden Ring Nightreign.

"Console title Elden Ring Nightreign performed well," Bandai reiterates in its report. In total, the publisher saw 4.62 million units of new titles sold, alongside 6.13 million units of old titles, in the quarter. This means Elden Ring Nightreign was a huge chunk of that volume, even if its sales did spill over beyond the end of the tracked quarter.

I spoke with Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki at length earlier this year, and my understanding of the game's development pipeline is that, as much as an inherently costly and labor-intensive craft like game development will allow, this game was made pretty fast and fairly cheap to keep it agile and affordable. Not quite made in a cave with a box of scraps, but a lot closer to it than most games get at the AA or AAA level.

That being said, I would wager that 5 million copies is already a solid return on investment for FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, and Nightreign still has a DLC ahead of it. Post-launch, Nightreign has been kept afloat with minor patches and rotating super-bosses called Everdark Nightlords, giving players new challenges to tear into.

I've already put more hours into the game than I ever thought I would, and there's hope in the community that its success could fuel more, or more ambitious, updates in the farther future, even if FromSoftware isn't trying to make a full live service game.

Back to Bandai's report, another slide perks up the ol' ears. The publisher highlights "a strategic partnership between Sony Group and Bandai Namco Holdings," revisiting the partnership revealed last month after Sony snapped up 16 million shares of Bandai.

At the time, the partnership was described as a way to "focus on expanding the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthening engagement."

Bandai's financial report has slightly more detail: "The expansion of works as well as products and services based on IP developed by Bandai Namco, leveraging Sony's strengths in areas such as the production and distribution of anime and other video content, as well as merchandising."

This will play out in the "joint development and promotion of IP, planning and technical collaboration on experiential entertainment, support for creators through the joint development and operation of entertainment related technologies and services," and "joint investments and business alliances in the area of fan engagement."

Funnily enough, we're gearing up for yet more Elden Ring, as the Switch 2 release and Tarnished Edition content update seem to be coming soon.

For the first time since the original Dark Souls, Elden Ring Nightreign sleuth finds FromSoftware significantly changed how grab attacks work – creating a 0.2-second window for one old boss.