Dragon Ball franchise to make nearly $1 billion this year

Bandai Namco expects the Dragon Ball franchise to generate nearly $1 billion in revenues this year, potentially breaking a four-year streak of earnings.

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Mega-hit sensation Dragon Ball is Bandai Namco's most popular franchise. Every year from 2019 to 2022, Bandai Namco has made over $1 billion from sales of Dragon Ball games, services, and collectibles.

Weaker yen-to-USD conversions may end up breaking this billion-dollar streak in the company's FY23 period. Dragon Ball is expected to make 133.5 billion yen throughout Fiscal Year 2023, which is above all previous years except for the record highs set in 2020, but current foreign exchange rates put Dragon Ball earnings at about $989 million.

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While forex rates change and fluctuate every month, the current values are responsible for dropping all Japanese games company earnings. Sony slid by 50%, Capcom also dropped by 50%, and Bandai Namco dropped about 18% year-over-year. Bandai Namco actually delivered 880 billion yen in net sales, but the weaker yen values (135 yen to every 1 USD) was actually less than 2021's converted 740 billion yen net sales.

The publisher will launch the new Dragon Ball Breakers game in October and Dragonball Fighterz will get a new PS5/Xbox Series X/S re-release soon as well.