IG Port's Anime Empire Crumbles Under Production Costs

IG Port, the parent company behind WIT Studio and Production I.G, just reported a financial crisis that no amount of merchandise sales can fully patch: operating profits tanked 46.3% year-on-year, despite the company's overall sales going up. The video division alone posted an operating loss exceeding one billion yen. This is quite surprising given that when heard from Production I.G's president, there were promising times ahead.

The culprit is straightforward and brutal. Rising anime production costs—delays, inflated vendor prices, expensive CGI sequences, and heavy subcontracting fees—have eaten through margins faster than the company can absorb them. It's the kind of squeeze that happens when production timelines slip, outsourcing partners raise rates, and technical complexity keeps climbing.

The company isn't entirely sunk. Other divisions—copyright management and merchandise operations—have helped cushion the blow, keeping the whole enterprise from collapsing outright. But the video side, which is supposed to be the creative engine, is hemorrhaging money.

This is a stark illustration of a problem that's been brewing in anime production for years: the economics don't work anymore at the scale studios are operating. You can make a hit series, rack up sales, and still lose money if your production costs spiral. IG Port's situation suggests that even major studios with diversified revenue streams are hitting a wall.

Source: Somos Kudasai