Falcom’s 2013 Annual Stockholders Meeting

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Thisyear, the stockholders meeting took place at the Tachikawa Palace Hotel. There were about 66 people present.

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The meeting started ontime at 13:30. For about 25 minutes, Toshihiro Kondo presented the quarter’s results, as well as the prospects for the next. He spent 15 minutes with a question and answer session, and the meeting ended at 14:10, lasting 40 minutes total.

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Earlier this year, when Falcom announced the Innovation Unit and their intention to work with social gaming, their stock value skyrocketed.

Their latest work, Sen no Kiseki, was released this past September has managed to break the 300,000 mark and 2014 will see its continuation. This coming year will also feature the first broadcast anime on Falcom’s characters, and the company’s popular characters will make an appearance in a new social game.

Motives for buying stock:
1) Financial management
2) Targeting dividends and preferential treatment
3) Fans of the specific enterprise.

After the meeting, there was a question and answer session.

Shareholders had asked questions regarding the patching of Sen no Kiseki after its release rather than delaying its release in the first place. Kondo explaiend that they had a more rigorous quality testing process as this was their first title to be released for PS3 and Vita simultaneously. They discovered how to resolve the load time issue late in the game’s development and chose to push forward to the mastering process, and prepare a patch between the submission of the master and the release of the game. A lot of credit was also given to Sony for their assistance in helping Falcom get the patch out as soon as they did after the release. It was only with their assistance that it was possible.

Another question was asked regarding the user reaction after the patch was released- the amount of it, to which was answered that it was as expected. They had split the patch into two, as it speed in which they released it was important. With an RPG the size of Sen no Kiseki, changes can take some time- the two patches ensured the fastest speed to release the amendments.

A loss was noticed on the financial reports, and when asked about it, the explanation was that it was caused by the costs of computer equipment.

They were also asked about plans to release a PC version of Ao no Kiseki, like how they ported the Joyoland PC release of Zero no Kiseki. The shareholders also expressed an interest in future titles being released either multiplatform with PC and console, or straight to PC. The Ao no Kiseki port is still being considered, as they’re still researching the market conditions to ensure that it’s feasible. Regarding PC titles, the Steam releases of Ys 1+2 Chronicles, Ys the Oath in Felghana, and Ys Origin in North America was mentioned- these titles have managed to have over 100,000 downloads. As a result, they are currently investigating the viability of releasing to Steam domestically in Japan.

Shareholders asked about the social game being released, that it looked like an action RPG. They wanted to know about particulars over whether it will be iOS or Android, or both. They hope to have the particulars of the smartphone title out next year [meaning 2014, of course- this meeting was during 2013 -ed.]. The idea of Falcom titles on mobile is something that’s still under investigation. They believe that they can promote development for it and that it is a viable platform for some major titles.

The early days of announcements social networking seems to have vanished, and there was a bit of clumsiness with recent live ticket sales- will there be a crisis management structure setup regarding this? Kondo explained that each department has a person with access to the twitter, and that every morning they meet about the content that is allowable for tweeting, and the timing of announcements. They are now making provisions to quickly catch misuse of the twitter account.

Finally, another question was asked about what to do if they find themselves blocked from twitter, to which the answer was to contact user support- that they should be able to assist.

With the closing of the post, the author details the items given to the shareholders at the meeting: a clear file, the Mishie plush, the Kiseki series desk calendar, and the latest issue of the Monthly Kiseki Magazine.

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[ Yahoo Blogs – User ‘hr_crf2’ – Nihon Falcom 2013 Stockholder Meeting ]

2 Replies to “Falcom’s 2013 Annual Stockholders Meeting”

  1. >As a result, they are currently investigating the viability of releasing to Steam domestically in Japan.
    Please not just in Japan, Falcom
    Please

  2. woot … very good article …. i didnt expect that about steam …. and PC opinion i thought they were already dead …

    thx u so much for the info :P

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