Square Enix Aims to Release Multiple Major Games a Year, Create New IP, & Leverage Existing Franchises

Today Square Enix announced its financial results for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2021.

Net sales for the whole company increased 27.6% year-on-year, while operating income grew 44.2%. Both were a record-high for Square Enix.

Looking at the Digital Entertainment business, which includes video games, sales increased 39.9％ year-on-year, while operating income grew 42.9% year-on-year.

Speaking of HD games, the launch of major games contributed to revenue, while catalog sales were “brisk.”

Interestingly, we learn that while the MMO sub-segment including Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X saw a decline in net sales due to the fact that there was no expansion released during the fiscal year compared to the previous one, recurring revenue was still “solid.”

We also get the forecast for the current fiscal year (ending in March 2022). Net sales are expected to increase year-on-on year, while operating income is expected to drop slightly.

You can find all the relevant data in the tables below.

Interestingly, the documentation also includes Square Enix’s medium-terms plans aiming to reach 400-500 billion yen in net sales and 60-75 billion yen in yearly operating income in the fiscal year ending in March 2024.

To achieve this, the company aims to strengthen its IP ecosystem according to the following points.

• Create new IP primarily in the form of/based on HD games.
  • Strengthen our IP lineup by releasing new titles on an ongoing basis while appropriately controlling risk.
• Leverage our IP to provide even greater added value.
  • Bolster profitability while maintaining the freshness of our IP by offering titles that leverage our existing IP in a broad range of formats.
• Expand base of recurring profits.
  • Expand base of recurring profits by leveraging our new and existing IP across the Group’s business segments.

In the field of HD games, Square Enix intends to:

• Strengthen existing IP & leverage them in multifaceted ways
• Create new IP
• Target multiple major title launches per fiscal year

As for MMO, the plan is to “expand/bolster recurring income from existing titles by using expansion packages to
spark growth in sales/subscriber numbers.”

Speaking of mobile and browser games, Square Enix intends to “maintain stable recurring income from existing titles while continuing to develop only the best new titles.”

If you’d like to compare, you can check out the results for the previous quarter, released in February.