Square Enix announced its financial results for the three-month period which started on April 1 and ended on June 30, 2024.
Sales were 69,915 million yen (down 18.4％ year-on-year), while operating income was 10,844 million yen (up
250.1％ year-on-year).
Looking at the Digital Entertainment Business, which includes video games and takes the lion’s share of Square Enix’s operations, sales were 43,905 million yen (down 29.6％ year-on-year) and operating income was 9,771 million yen (up 255.9％ year-on-year).
The press release mentions that the decline in sales is mostly because there was no major new release in the HD Games subsegment (console games), compared to the quarter last year in which Final Fantasy XVI and the Pixel Remasters launched. Yet, operating income was up mostly due to lower development costs amortization and lower advertising expenses.
The MMO Game subsegment saw both sales and profits grow year-on-year, albeit no reason was explicitly explained. Specifically, sales grew from 11 billion yen to 12.5 billion yen, while Operating Income grew from 4.4 billion yen to 6.6 billion yen, which is basically half of the revenue, showing significant margins.
While the period examined starts just before the launch of Final Fantasy XIV’s expansion Dawntrail, which was released on July 2, it’s likely that subscription revenue was up due to returning players preparing for the new content.
On the other hand, the smartphone and browser game subsegment recorded a drop in revenue compared to the previous year primarily due to weak sales of existing games. On the other hand, profits increased due to the optimization of operational expenses.
The next quarter will be certainly interesting, as we’ll see the full impact of the launch of Dawntrail on sales and profits, but for now, it’s too early to tell.
If you’d like to hear more about gaming industry financial results, several have already been announced and we have dedicated reports, including Capcom, Koei Tecmo, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Konami, and Nintendo.
