19. D3 Publisher

FY08 Revenue: $144M, +74% (Rank: 20)
FY08 Profit/Loss: $2.95M (Rank: 11)
Titles in Global Top 100: 2 (Rank: 11)
Units in Global Top 100: 1.1M (Rank: 15)
Review Average: 66% (Rank: 12)
 

Explanation of Ranking: D3 Publisher has shown a six-fold growth in revenue since FY06, and while it has moved from a very modest loss to a profit, the company's profit margin is still relatively small.

Most consumers outside of Japan know D3 Publisher for the hit game Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. However, the company has long published value-priced titles in Japan, such as its Simple 2000 series for the PlayStation 2, priced at ¥2000. A quick look at its balance sheets reveals that its North American sales matched Japanese sales in FY07 and were 75% larger than Japanese sales in FY08. Within the next year, it is possible that its European sales figures will also exceed its Japanese market.

Although D3 Publisher initially stated that it would not be able to continue its budget-priced Simple series on newer consoles, it has recently announced a Simple series for the Wii. Given the success of the Wii, the company may well find a strong revenue stream on the strength of its Simple brand.

In the U.S. and Europe, D3 Publisher has published Dark Sector, a new IP from Digital Extremes, and begun to publish some games based on properties licensed from The Cartoon Network. In 2008 the company hopes to release a sequel to Challenge of the Warlords known as Puzzle Quest: Galatrix.