Elden Ring DLC Helps FromSoftware Bounce Back After Major Cyberattack

Elden Ring and its DLC Shadow of Erdtree are seemingly a “strong driving force” for the performance of its parent company’s gaming sector. Read on to learn more about the security breach and Kadokawa’s financial report in its gaming sector.

Elden Ring and DLC are Driving Kadokawa’s Sales in the Game SectorKadokawa’s Security Breach Cost $13 Million in Losses

On June 27, the hacking group Black Suits claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on FromSoftware’s parent company Kadokawa, stating they had stolen a large amount of data, including business plans and user-related information. Kadokawa confirmed on July 3 that the breach included the personal information of all Dwango employees, internal documents, and some data on employees from affiliated companies.

According to Gamebiz, Kadokawa Corporation suffered a security breach that cost the company approximately 2 billion yen around $13 million, and caused a 10.1% drop in net profit compared to the previous year. Despite this, Kadokawa posted strong financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. This marks Kadokawa's first financial report since the large-scale cyberattack on June 8, which disrupted several of the company’s services.

Fortunately, business activities have now been fully restored. In the publishing and IP creation sectors, shipping volumes for affected publications are expected to recover gradually in August, with daily shipments anticipated to return to normal by mid-August. Several major web services that were impacted are also set to resume normal operations.

The company's video game sector experienced significant growth, with sales reaching 7,764 million yen—an 80.2% increase from the previous year—and ordinary profit up by 108.1%. This strong performance was primarily fueled by Elden Ring and its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which provided a major boost to the gaming division.