Square Enix reported its financial results for a six-month period ending on September 30, 2022, and Final Fantasy XIV was a definite bright spot for the company, which reported some targeted categories seeing lower numbers than one year before.
When it comes to the financial report, Square Enix reported that, overall, “Net sales and operating income declined YoY at the HD Game sub?segment, due to a YoY decline in earnings from new titles”. This meant that the new titles that were released didn’t have the impact that they hoped for and “were unable to offset weak performances from existing titles”. Numbers that were down were the Net sales, and operating income, while there were limited rises.
This is where Final Fantasy XIV comes in, seeing that paying subscriber numbers for the MMORPG rose year over year, marking a growth period in the post-Endwalker release period. Given that the game was briefly pulled from sale and new characters, the famously generous free trial suspended, and other moves intended to ease the demand on the space to let current subscribers enjoy Endwalker, this is notable.
Additional brighter spots include merchandising based on original IP, and the sale of overseas studios, like Eidos, and Crystal Dynamics, earlier this year.
In 2023, they look to continue To grow through strategies like new mobile titles, support for internal development, blockchain game development efforts, including the recently-unveiled Symbiogenesis NFT collectible art arm, and investment and presence in new areas and staking out spaces in metaverse operations.
Square Enix is also looking towards its late 2022 and 2023 lineup to hopefully spark better results than their most recent releases. These include Valkyrie Elysium, Forspoken, the updated Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, Star Ocean: The Divine Force and Dragon Quest Treasures.
You can review the Square Enix financial disclosures and 2023 plans over at the official site.
