More turnover, more profit, but significantly fewer games sold

A look at Square Enix’s current annual report is of course also in the context of the sale of Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider and other brands. All in all, Square Enix can look back on a successful year, with increasing sales and profits. It was already known in advance that the sale of the studios and brands was not economically necessary in this regard.

At the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2022, a total turnover of 2.68 billion euros was recorded. Sales increased by ten percent compared to the previous year. Operating profit was also 17 percent higher at 432 million euros.

The games division accounts for 77 percent of total sales and the MMO sub-segment was particularly successful here. Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker expansion, released in December 2021, saw “a sharp increase in monthly paid subscribers,” it said.

However, if you look specifically at the HD games segment, you will see a drop. That’s no surprise either. Outriders and Guardians of the Galaxy were half satisfied at best. Babylon’s Fall, which is still strongly supported, and Balan Wonderworld were failures.

With NieR Replicant, Stranger of Paradise, and Triangle Strategy alone, sales of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Marvel’s Avengers couldn’t match last year’s sales. 39.13 million games were sold, compared to 49.9 million in the previous year.

Let’s see how the new year goes. Forspoken, Live A Live and Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis have already been announced for release in the current fiscal year. Of course, fans are also hoping for Final Fantasy VII Remake – Episode 2 and Final Fantasy XVI. But so far this is nothing more than hope. Kingdom Hearts IV and Dragon Quest XII are not expected yet.

A few days after announcing the sale of the western studios to the Embracer Group, Square Enix also confirmed its intentions to establish new studios in its current annual report. The annual report also notes renewed expressions of intent and interest in new key areas such as blockchain, AI and cloud.

through GamesMarketArtwork: Forspoken, Square EnixLuminous productions