Final Fantasy News

Square Enix Six-Month Financial Report Released Square Enix has released its financial report for the six-month period that ended September 30. Numbers were up in almost every area, thanks in large part to the strong performance of the company's online and mobile divisions. Sales for the period totaled 24.3 billion yen ($235.5 million), an increase of 23.6 percent over the same period a year earlier. Operating profits checked in at 5.9 billion yen ($57.1 million)--a 155.3 percent increase--and the company enjoyed a net profit of 3.1 billion yen ($30 million), a jump of 162.8 percent. Online game division revenues grew by 101 percent overall, reaching 7.7 billion yen ($74.6 million). Operating profits jumped by 230 percent to 3.25 billion yen ($31.5 million) with a net profit of over 42 percent for the division. The division's biggest product is Final Fantasy XI, which has 550,000 subscribers worldwide and is expected to add more following the title's mid-September launch in Europe. Squre Enix also maintains the MMORPG Cross Gate in Asia. Two more MMORPGs--Front Mission Online and Fantasy Earth--are planned for launch in 2005. The company's mobile division also grew, with sales up 55 percent and operating profits up 7 percent. Further growth is expected in the division thanks to international expansion. Boxed game sale revenues declined 13.4 percent, due in large part to a relatively weak lineup of products. However, key products released during the period were re-releases of older games, such as Dragon Quest V and Final Fantasy I & II Advance: Dawn of Souls. This allowed profits to rise 7 percent. The current six-month period looks to be a very good one for the division, with the expected releases of Dragon Quest VIII, Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Source: RPGamer

Editor: Ardox, Posted: 8 Dec 2004 | Views: 1249