Konami sees profits nearly double as Phantom Pain ships 5 million

Konami's latest earnings report reveals a company enjoying an uptick in its fortunes, thanks in large part to its games business.

The company reportedly amassed 12.4 billion yen (~$102.7 million USD) in profits during the six-month period ending September 30th, nearly doubling the 7.4 billion yen (~$61.3 million USD) profit it earned during the same period last year. 

The vast majority of that profit was generated by Konami's Digital Entertainment business, which encompasses both free-to-play mobile hits like baseball game Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu (reportedly downloaded 16 million times in the 10 months since it launched) and PC/console games, most notably Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. 

Konami claims to have shipped 5 million copies of The Phantom Pain since it launched on September 1st. Roughly a month later Metal Gear chief Hideo Kojima reportedly left the company, leaving the future of the franchise -- historically a significant cash cow for Konami -- in question to almost everyone but Konami, which has previously outlined plans to hire new staff and make another Metal Gear.