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Nihon Falcom has posted its results for the fiscal year ended September 2026 (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026). Net sales came to $29.2 million, up 71.2% year over year, with operating profit of $18.7 million, up 113.8%. Sales and every profit line hit a record high.
The drivers were two titles released during the year, Kyoto Xanadu -Oka Genbu- and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter. On top of that, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, released in the prior fiscal year, kept selling. The licensing segment alone brought in $22.9 million, roughly 78% of the company’s total revenue.
The supplementary materials also spell out something bigger: the sequel to The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon, slated for the fiscal year ending September 2027, is the finale of that story. The catch is that Falcom’s own guidance for that year calls for lower sales and lower profit. Here are the numbers, in order.
*Prices in this article are converted from Japanese yen at ¥153 = US$1 (November 2026 rate).
How much did Falcom make in the fiscal year ended September 2026?
Net sales were $29.2 million, operating profit $18.7 million, recurring profit $19.0 million and net income $13.1 million. Sales and all three profit lines are record highs.
| Item | Amount | Year over year |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $29.2 million | +71.2% |
| Operating profit | $18.7 million | +113.8% |
| Recurring profit | $19.0 million | +113.1% |
| Net income | $13.1 million | +122.2% |
The telling detail is that profit roughly doubled while revenue grew far less. Sales rose 71.2%, operating profit 113.8%. The gap between those two figures makes sense the moment you look at the licensing numbers.
Why did licensing account for 78% of the business?
The licensing segment generated $22.9 million in sales, about 78% of the total. Structurally, granting rights to other companies now brings in more money for Falcom than selling its own titles does.
Licensing revenue carries no in-house development cost, so the margin is high. Operating profit climbing 113.8% on a 71.2% sales increase is a direct reflection of that segment taking up a bigger share of the mix. The foundation under all this licensing business is the Trails series clearing 10 million units sold cumulatively.
The titles that drove the year
Kyoto Xanadu -Oka Genbu- and Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, both released during the fiscal year, performed well. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, out the year before, grew its sales too. Two remakes landing back to back did the heavy lifting.
As for a third entry in the Trails in the Sky remake line, there is nothing about it in this set of financial materials.
When does the Trails beyond the Horizon finale arrive?
It is scheduled for the fiscal year ending September 2027. The supplementary materials state outright that the sequel to The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon is the concluding chapter.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Previous entry | The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon -Farewell, O Zemuria- |
| Release date (previous entry) | January 15, 2026 |
| Price (previous entry) | $42 (tax included) |
| Platforms (previous entry) | PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Publishing (previous entry) | NIS America, Nihon Falcom, PH3 |
| Sequel | Planned for the fiscal year ending September 2027 as the concluding chapter |
Trails beyond the Horizon already carries the subtitle -Farewell, O Zemuria-, a goodbye to Zemuria itself. Confirming that its sequel is the finale means a line is finally being drawn under a story that has run for an extremely long time. For anyone who has followed the Trails series, the fiscal year ending September 2027 is going to carry a lot of weight.
Why is guidance for the fiscal year ending September 2027 lower on both sales and profit?
Because only one new title is planned and because Falcom assumes Trails in the Sky sales will level off. The company is guiding for net sales of $19.6 million (down 33.0%), operating profit of $9.80 million (down 47.7%) and net income of $6.54 million (down 50.2%).
| Item | FY ending September 2027 guidance | Year over year |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $19.6 million | -33.0% |
| Operating profit | $9.80 million | -47.7% |
| Net income | $6.54 million | -50.2% |
Penciling in a 30%-plus drop the year after a record high looks timid at first glance. The breakdown says otherwise. The year just ended was an unusual one, with two remakes and a new title stacked on top of each other, and next year goes back to a single new release. Falcom has also baked in the assumption that the Trails in the Sky remakes will stop selling at their current pace.
In other words, this is not a warning sign of a slump. It is the difference in how many games ship. A $19.6 million year is still a high bar compared with where Falcom sat before this record run. How the finale performs is what will really move the final numbers for the fiscal year ending September 2027.
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The bottom line: the finale lands the year after a record high
Nihon Falcom’s results for the fiscal year ended September 2026 show net sales of $29.2 million (up 71.2%), operating profit of $18.7 million (up 113.8%), recurring profit of $19.0 million (up 113.1%) and net income of $13.1 million (up 122.2%), with sales and every profit line setting a record high.
The drivers were Kyoto Xanadu -Oka Genbu- and Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter from this fiscal year, plus Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter from the one before. Licensing sales of $22.9 million account for roughly 78% of the total, and the Trails series has now passed 10 million units sold cumulatively.
The fiscal year ending September 2027 is set to deliver the sequel to The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon, which is also its finale. Guidance for that year is lower across the board at $19.6 million in sales (down 33.0%), $9.80 million in operating profit (down 47.7%) and $6.54 million in net income (down 50.2%), because only one new title is planned and Trails in the Sky sales are expected to settle.
Sales up 71.2%, operating profit up 113.8%. That gap is the whole story of a business where licensing is 78% of revenue. Falcom is close to perfecting a model where it keeps developing its own games while the licensing side does the earning. Next year’s decline is a title-count artifact, not the kind of number worth worrying about.
What matters is what’s inside the finale. The follow-up to -Farewell, O Zemuria- is the end of the road. That’s the one thing worth waiting a year for.
Featured image and in-article images from the official Steam page. ©Nihon Falcom Corporation
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