Square Enix Q1 Financial Report: Who Needs AAA?

Published: August 11, 2015 7:10 PM /

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SquareEnix

Square Enix has posted their Q1 financial report, and it is good news for the company.

Despite the lack of new major AAA titles, Square was still able to generate a good report. The biggest news was Square netting nearly ¥6 billion ($48.1 million) in net profit, an increase of 76% from last years Q1 report. Square also posted gains in net sales, touting ¥42.3 billion ($399 million) in sales throughout the quarter.

Most of the sales figures are attributed to mobile and MMO gaming. Square singles out the Japanese-only PC browser game Sengoku IXA, as a major performer, along with several mobile games such as Dragon Quest Monsters Super Light, Final Fantasy Record Keeper and Schoolgirl Strikers.

Despite the positive report, assets are slightly down (just under ¥1500 million) , especially cash assets and deposits, which decreased to ¥97 000 million, a 6% decrease. This is likely tied to Square having several major games nearing completion, including Final Fantasy XV, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. This may also account for the new Tokyo RPG Factory that Square announced at E3 this year. This is shown by the fact that their "works in progress" assets are up ¥14 million and their content production account has increased by ¥7000 million
Other big sellers included the new expansions for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensword,  and Dragon Quest X:  Lore of the Ancient Dragon Online which both saw release this past April. Square gave no hard numbers to how well the expansions were doing, other than that sales have been "favorable" to the company.

For consoles, the biggest money-makers for Square were mostly downloads from their back catalog, as they had no major releases during the first quarter of this year.  Digital sales raked in ¥30.2 million ($239,000), an increase of 29.2% from last years quarter, and income from these sales was also up 81%, with ¥8.1 million ($64,000) earned.

Overall, the financial picture at Square Enix, in regards to video games, has been solid. Only their amusement branch, Arcade machines, posted significant losses for the company, decreasing at 39% in total income year to year.

So is Square on the right track? Do you think their lack of big releases will catch up to them? Leave your comments below.

 

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| Staff Writer

A longtime player of games, creator of worlds, and teacher of minds. Robert has worked many positions over the years, from college professor to education… More about Robert