Square Enix Expects Higher FY Profits Thanks to Final Fantasy XIV & More Despite FFVII Remake Delay

Today Square Enix announced a revision to its full fiscal year financial forecast related to the period between April 2019 and March 2020.

The company expects net sales to be 3.5% lower than previously predicted due to the delay of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, which shifted the game’s release out of the fiscal year and into the next.

Yet, the fact that the forecasted drop in net sales is so small despite the lack of contribution for such a big game should clue you into what’s coming next.

All profits figures are expected to be higher (by 36.35 for operating income and 33.3% for ordinary income) thanks to sales of the Shadowbringrs expansion and increase in subscribers for Final Fantasy XIV, strong performance of the mobile game Dragon Quest Walk, and sales growth for digital manga publication.

You can check out the full revision in the table below alongside the full statement from the company.

“The Company now expects lower net sales than previously anticipated under its consolidated financial forecasts for the fiscal year through March 31, 2020, primarily due to the postponement of the release of the major HD game title “FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE” to April 2020.

By contrast, despite booking valuation losses related to its content production account, the Company now expects higher operating income, ordinary income, and profit attributable to owners of parent than previously anticipated under its forecasts because of contribution profit
from expansion pack sales and subscriber growth for the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game “FINAL FANTASY XIV” in its MMO sub-segment, a strong performance from “DRAGON QUEST WALK” in the Games for Smart Devices/PC Browsers sub-segment, and sales growth in digital formats such as the “MANGA UP!” comic app and e-books in the Publication segment.”

Final Fantasy XIV has proved to be extremely successful for Square Enix, even more so after the release of the highly-praised expansion Shadowbringers, which has pushed registered users to over 18 million.

If you’d like to learn more about the game, you can read latest interview with Naoki Yoshida, and our review of Shadowbringers.

We recently received a lot of information about the upcoming update, which will be numbered 5.3 and will come this summer with a lot of new content and features.

You can also enjoy the report on our latest visit to the Eorzea Cafe in Tokyo, one  about the latest orchestra concert, and our look at the recent uniqlo collaboration.

Final Fantasy XIV is currently available for PlayStation 4 and PC.