Gumi Inc., the Japanese mobile game publisher behind Brave Frontier, reported first-half results that expose a company increasingly reliant on cryptocurrency windfalls rather than its traditional gaming operations.
The Tokyo-listed company swung to an operating loss of ¥163 million ($1.1 million) for the six months through October, reversing a ¥179 million profit a year earlier. Revenue tumbled 30% to ¥3.85 billion ($25.7 million) as the mobile gaming unit contracted sharply following asset sales and title shutdowns.
Yet net income more than doubled to ¥1.35 billion ($9 million), driven almost entirely by non-operating cryptocurrency valuation gains that ballooned to ¥1.68 billion ($11.2 million) from ¥979 million in the prior period.
The mobile games segment, once gumi’s bread and butter, recorded a ¥417 million operating loss as the company retreated from unprofitable titles and transferred others to third-party operators. Revenue in the unit dropped 37% following last year’s sale of subsidiary Alim.
The blockchain division fared better, posting ¥254 million in operating profit despite modest revenue declines, helped by crypto asset receipts and reduced development costs.
Gumi has pivoted aggressively toward digital assets this year, purchasing Bitcoin and XRP while raising ¥5.7 billion through stock acquisition rights. The company’s bottom line increasingly depends on volatile crypto markets rather than game development.
