Square Enix is one of Japan’s most significant game publishers and developers. Well known for creating Final Fantasy and numerous other series, the company experienced drastic changes.
Square Enix recently came under media limelight for their $300 million sales of Square Enix Europe IPs to Embracer group. While the company’s interests shifted to other things, it seems they aren’t doing well financially.
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That is, if the financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2023, are something to follow.
As per the reports, the net sales clocked in at 74,876 million yen, down to 15.5% year-on-year. Similarly, the operating income was 14,430 million yen, which is down 16.7% year on year.
The Digital Entertainment business also experienced the same trends. This section includes games developed and published by Square Enix. As per the report, the net sales were 53,570 million yen, down to 23.3% year-on-year. The operating income also suffered, clocking in at 14,140 million yen, down to 17.5% year-on-year.
In the reports, Square Enix feels that HD games didn’t reach the previous year’s levels, despite releasing multiple new titles. However, the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 led to net sales growth. The growth happened thanks to the increase in paying subscribers year-on-year. The MMO section also contributed to generating higher sales than the other sections.
Additional information includes that physical sales are a small part of Square Enix’s business compared to digital sales. Talking about the full fiscal year, the company plans to release various titles (most of which are successors of JRPGs) under HD Games. For the MMO segment, neither Final Fantasy 14 nor Dragon Quest X will receive any new expansion.
It will be interesting to see what the upcoming months look like for Square Enix. The company plans on releasing various games over the second half of this year, some of which are fan favourites.
