Square Enix will therefore also be one of the big winners for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Whether we are talking about turnover (2.7 billion euros), operating profit (442 million euros) or net profit (380 million euros), the Japanese publisher far exceeds its objectives. and set a record in all compartments.
The fiscal year was marked by the release of titles such as Outriders, NieR Replicant, Life is Strange: True Colors, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and Triangle Strategy. A solid catalog, even if it did not generate as much money as last year, when Square Enix released Final Fantasy VII Remake and Marvel’s Avengers. Buoyed by the release of Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker, the MMO segment is taking off like never before, whether through sales of the extension or the gain of new subscribers. Although mixed on the performance of some of its smartphone games, Square Enix is also seeing an increase in sales.
All this means that, overall, video game revenue and operating profit increased by 6% and 16% respectively to reach 2 billion euros and 440 million euros. Square Enix’s three other activities (arcade machines, manga publishing and above all the sales of Tifa figurines) combine for their part a turnover of 664 million euros and an operating profit of 134 million euros. euros.
These results do not include the 300 million dollars that Square Enix will receive from Embracer in exchange for its American studios (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal) and all the licenses associated with these studios, including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain. A strategic choice that continues to be debated, especially since it comes at a time when Square Enix has never earned so much money. « The objective of the operation is to allow the company to allocate its resources more efficiently, to accelerate the growth of its main activities and the launch of new activities, while facing the major changes underway in the environment. world trade »justifies CEO Yosuke Matsuda.
Despite this transaction, Square Enix says its medium-term objective is to strengthen its development capabilities, in particular by creating or acquiring studios. The editor also wishes to restructure in order to speed up certain decision-making and will create a post of Chief Publishing Officer for this purpose. At the same time, Square Enix continues to believe in NFTs and opened a dedicated blockchain department in February. A priori, nothing that should interfere with the publisher’s traditional games. A priori.
Also to know:
- Mobile games generated 972 million euros, compared to 650 million for console/PC games and 464 million for MMOs (FF14 and DQ10).
- Digital represents the overwhelming majority of revenues (1.8 billion euros against 203 million euros for boxed games).
- Square Enix distributed 39 million games over the fiscal year, including 30 million for download.
- Square Enix hasn’t communicated its goals for the new fiscal year, handy not to let it be known whether or not FF16 will be released by March 2023.