Growth of the Debugging Business in Japan, Overseas and New Fields

「During the fiscal year, against a backdrop of strong demand associated with the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, the company conducted proactive sales activities leveraging its extensive inventory of testing equipment dedicated to new hardware. It also promoted flexible and agile operations tailored to customer needs, including resource sharing across locations, through a company-wide effort. As a result, it steadily won new projects and achieved double-digit revenue growth in domestic debugging services.」

「Domestic debugging services performed well as proactive sales activities, supported by a large pool of testing personnel and more than 600 units of dedicated testing equipment for new hardware procured ahead of schedule at the end of the previous fiscal year, led to the acquisition of numerous new console-game projects.」

「During the fiscal year, domestic debugging services achieved revenue growth by steadily winning new large-scale projects through effective strategic sales activities, including concentrating management resources on clients actively developing new titles, while the domestic game market remained weak. In anticipation of increased debugging demand following the launch of new hardware, the company also worked early to maintain and expand its high market share by expanding the Kyoto Lab. and Nagoya Lab. and preparing testing equipment dedicated to the new hardware.」

「During the nine months ended 31 December, although domestic debugging services faced a pullback from the strong performance of console-game debugging, particularly in the first half of the previous fiscal year, the company worked to maintain and expand its overwhelming market share by promoting DHQ (Digital Hearts Quality), its proprietary quality-management method for achieving optimal QCD (Quality/Cost/Delivery) for client companies, and by working to enhance the value of its services. It also worked to secure talented personnel and improve employee satisfaction by establishing a new Lab. testing center in Kumamoto and raising testers' hourly wages above previous levels.」

「During the three months ended 30 June, although domestic debugging services faced a pullback from the exceptionally strong performance of console-game debugging in the previous fiscal year, the company worked to maintain and expand its overwhelming market share by promoting DHQ (Digital Hearts Quality), its proprietary quality-management method for achieving optimal QCD (Quality/Cost/Delivery) for client companies, and by working to enhance the value of its services.」

「During the nine months ended 31 December, domestic debugging services benefited from expanding demand in the strong console-game market and progressed in winning new projects, achieving double-digit revenue growth.」

「During the six months ended 30 September, domestic debugging services benefited from expanding demand in the strong console-game market and progressed in winning new projects, achieving double-digit revenue growth.」

「The company won numerous new large-scale title projects by providing high-quality services that responded flexibly to fluid development schedules.」

「During the nine months ended 31 December, development of new titles became more active, particularly in the console-game market, against a backdrop of increased stay-at-home demand and other factors. Under these market conditions, the Group pursued proactive sales activities and continued efforts to improve service quality, winning numerous new large-scale title projects scheduled for release during the fiscal year.」

「During the six months ended 30 September, development of new titles became more active, particularly in the console-game market, against a backdrop of increased stay-at-home demand and other factors. Under these market conditions, the Group pursued proactive sales activities and continued efforts to improve service quality, winning numerous new large-scale title projects scheduled for release during the fiscal year. It also sought to improve profitability by strengthening operational reforms at Lab. testing centers and reviewing its cost structure. As a result, revenue from domestic debugging services for the six months ended 30 September was ¥5,961.729 million, up 7.8% year on year.」

「Against this backdrop, the Group focused on proposal-based sales activities that accurately captured customer needs and continued efforts to improve service quality, winning numerous new large-scale title projects scheduled for release during the fiscal year. As a result, revenue from domestic debugging services for the three months ended 30 June was ¥2,931.279 million, up 9.3% year on year.」

「Although the fiscal year was affected mainly in the first half by the spread of COVID-19, debugging demand recovered from the second half onward, particularly for console games, including new titles for the new PlayStation®5 hardware launched in November 2020.」

「During the nine months ended 31 December, the Group maintained stable service delivery by launching remote debugging, which enabled testers to perform part of their debugging work from home in response to the spread of COVID-19. It also established an order-taking structure to win new titles for the new PlayStation® 5 hardware launched in November 2020, and strengthened collaboration among its domestic and overseas group companies to capture rising demand for translation and localization. In addition, it worked to improve profitability by consolidating and reorganizing its testing centers, known as Lab., and reducing expenses.」

「However, as the spread of COVID-19 affected client companies, some title development was delayed or postponed. As a result, revenue from debugging services for the six months ended 30 September was ¥6,258.283 million, down 9.6% year on year.」

「However, some client companies experienced delays or postponements in title development, and demand for debugging, translation and localization temporarily declined due to the impact of lockdowns overseas and other factors. As a result, revenue from debugging services for the three months ended 30 June was ¥3,023.103 million, down 12.2% year on year.」

「Revenue from debugging services for the fiscal year rose to ¥13,823.219 million, up 5.5% year on year.」

「During the nine months ended 31 December, the company conducted proactive sales activities for console-game services and responded flexibly to fluid development schedules, winning numerous large-scale title projects and achieving double-digit revenue growth. In the amusement-machine industry, where difficult market conditions had continued, client companies gradually became more active in developing new machines. By successfully capturing debugging demand related to this development, the company achieved substantial revenue growth. As a result, revenue from debugging services for the nine months ended 31 December rose substantially to ¥10,655.404 million, up 7.8% year on year.」

「During the six months ended 30 September, services for console games performed well as proactive sales activities and ongoing efforts to improve service quality paid off, resulting in the acquisition of numerous popular titles scheduled for release during the year-end sales season. In the amusement-machine industry, where difficult market conditions had continued, client companies gradually became more active in developing new machines. By successfully capturing debugging demand related to this development, the company achieved substantial revenue growth. As a result, revenue from debugging services for the six months ended 30 September rose substantially to ¥6,925.015 million, up 8.3% year on year.」

「During the three months ended 30 June, services for console games performed well as proposal-based sales activities accurately addressing customer needs and ongoing efforts to improve service quality paid off, leading to progress in winning multiple large-scale title projects. As a result, revenue from debugging services for the three months ended 30 June rose substantially to ¥3,444.729 million, up 10.7% year on year.」

「During the fiscal year, services for amusement machines fell sharply under the impact of the regulatory tightening. Meanwhile, services for mobile games achieved substantial revenue growth by continuing to capture rising debugging demand, particularly during the live-operations phase.」

「During the nine months ended 31 December, services for mobile games achieved substantial revenue growth by focusing on providing high-value-added services tailored closely to customer needs and continuing to capture rising debugging demand, particularly during the live-operations phase. In contrast, services for amusement machines fell sharply because the difficult order environment continued under the impact of the regulatory tightening implemented in February 2018.」

「During the six months ended 30 September, services for mobile games achieved substantial revenue growth by building strong relationships with client companies and continuing to capture rising debugging demand, particularly during the live-operations phase. In contrast, the amusement-machine market as a whole remained sluggish following the regulatory tightening implemented in February 2018. Although manufacturers were gradually progressing with the development of gaming machines compliant with the new regulations, debugging demand fell sharply during the gap between development cycles for these new machines.」

「During the nine months ended 30 June, services for mobile games achieved substantial revenue growth by continuing to capture rising debugging demand, particularly during the live-operations phase. In contrast, services for amusement machines remained sluggish as the pullback from front-loaded demand ahead of the regulatory tightening implemented in February 2018 continued.」

「Revenue from the debugging business for the fiscal year was ¥14,283.702 million, up 16.3% year on year, driven mainly by strong performance in services for console games and mobile content.」

「Against this backdrop, the Group continued to focus on recruiting and training testers, strengthening its order-taking capabilities, while continuously improving service quality. As a result, it successfully converted growing demand for debugging services into orders. Revenue from the debugging business for the nine months ended 31 December was ¥10,848.774 million, up 17.3% year on year, as revenue increased across all client relationships. Segment profit was ¥2,325.356 million, up 10.9%.」

「Against this backdrop, our group has continued to strengthen its order fulfillment capacity by focusing on recruiting and developing testing personnel, while continuously working to improve and enhance service quality, thereby reliably converting growing demand for debugging into orders.」

「In the VR field, where demand is expected to increase, we steadily built a track record by focusing on active sales activities and winning multiple large-scale projects. As a result, sales from the consumer game relationship within the debugging business for the first 3 months of the current fiscal year rose significantly to ¥1,100 million, up 26.3% year on year.」

「To this end, our group promoted the overseas expansion of its debugging business by continuing to focus on securing and developing tester personnel and strengthening our order fulfillment capacity through measures including expanding domestic debugging sites and using the permanent employment conversion system introduced in the previous fiscal year. We also established a new subsidiary in China in July 2016 and focused on active sales activities in China's game market, where game development is vigorous.」

「To improve service quality and build stronger relationships with customer companies through the provision of high-value-added services, our group has continued to focus on developing personnel from a medium- to long-term perspective by using measures including the permanent employment conversion system introduced in the previous fiscal year. This has enabled us to reliably convert growing demand for debugging into orders. As a result, sales in the debugging business for the first 9 months of the current fiscal year were ¥9,246 million, up 12.5% year on year.」

「To this end, our group has actively pursued initiatives to enhance the added value of its services. These include continuing to secure and develop tester personnel and further strengthening our order fulfillment capacity, including by expanding Osaka Lab., our domestic debugging site, as well as developing new services specializing in VR (virtual reality) content and conducting research toward the practical application of artificial intelligence-based debugging services, drawing on the testers' knowledge and expertise.」

「As part of our strategy to capture overseas demand for debugging, we decided to enter China's rapidly growing game market. With the cooperation of 株式会社ウィズ・パートナーズ, which has strong networks with leading Chinese companies and extensive experience and a track record in supporting business expansion in Asia, we have promoted initiatives to establish quality standards and develop the business in China's game market.」

「We will continue to pursue growth in the debugging business across regions and fields by focusing on capturing domestic and overseas demand and developing potential needs in new fields, where demand is expected to continue expanding.」