Sales Loss Caused By Japanese Quake Estimated At $88M

The Japanese video game industry may have lost over $88 million in potential sales due to the March 11 earthquake, according to estimates by magazine publisher Enterbrain. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo Friday (via Famitsu, as translated by Andriasang), Enterbrain CEO Hirokazu Hamamura said that the company estimates a potential sales loss of 2.86 billion yen ($34.6 million) in video game hardware and 4.47 billion yen ($54.2 million) in software can be attributed to the aftermath of the quake during the last three weeks of March. The major cause of the drop, according to Hamamura, was the delay of 31 games beyond their planned March release dates, including high profile titles like Nintendo's Steel Diver and the latest in the Yakuza and Dead or Alive franchises. Hamamura also said that his company attributes the relatively poor sales of Nintendo's 3DS in the region (estimated at 746,000 in its debut month, according to tracking firm Media Create) to the earthquake, saying Nintendo and its third party partners delayed a larger promotional campaign. All this aside, the company believes that the industry has a good chance for a quick recovery, due to these delayed titles filling the release schedule in the coming months and giving publishers a healthy beginning to the fiscal year.