Final Fantasy XIV Subscription Strength and More Drive Growth in Square Enix Financial Results

Today Square Enix released its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020, related to the period between April 1 and June 30.

Below you can see the results for the company as a whole, which are all in the black.

The results broken down by segment also show that the digital entertainment business (which includes games) is by far the biggest contributor to the company’s performance.

We get an explanation of the results for the digital entertainment business: while the release of new games for consoles (including the Final Fantasy games for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One) resulted in performance growth in the field, Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe for mobile performed well, increasing results year-on-year on that front as well.

Notable is the “strong” subscription revenue for Final Fantasy XIV achieved before the launch of the Shdadowbringers expansion. This is quite remarkable, as MMORPGs usually drive higher revenue at and after the launch of an expansion. It certainly showcases solid anticipation by the game’s audience and the overall success of Final Fantasy XIV as a subscription-based MMORPG.

“The Digital Entertainment segment consists of planning, development, distribution, and operation of digital entertainment content primarily in the form of games. Digital entertainment content is offered to meet customer lifestyles across a variety of usage environments such as consumer game consoles (including handheld game machines), personal computers, and smart devices.

Releases for consumer game consoles during the three-month period ended June 30, 2019 included the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One versions of “FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster” and “FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE.” The overall result was higher net sales than in the same period of the previous year and a turn slightly into the black at the operating income line.

In the smart devices and PC browser area, “Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe,” which had been launched in December 2018, continued to perform well, leading to higher net sales and operating income than in the same period of the prior year.

In the area of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, subscription revenue was strong ahead of the release of the “FINAL FANTASY XIV” expansion pack, driving net sales and operating income higher than in the same period of the prior year.”

If you’d like to compare, you can check out Square Enix’s previous quarter’s financial results, published in May.