Square Enix has released its financial summary for the 2024-25 fiscal year, and while sales are down, profits are up, largely thanks to the performance of a certain retro JRPG remake.
In its latest financial presentation, Square Enix reveals that sales have fallen by around 9% over last year, That admittedly isn’t a particularly precipitous fall, although it’s not exactly likely to put smiles on the executive board’s faces.
What might do that, however, is the fact that profits are up by around 20%, largely driven by the company’s “digital entertainment” (i.e. video games) sector. One game in particular, Square Enix says, stands out as a success this fiscal year.
In the report, Square Enix singles out Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake‘s “stronger sales” than the company’s “initial assumptions” as a driving factor behind this year’s profit increase. Back in February, Square Enix revealed the game had outsold expectations.
Other new releases this year included SaGa Emerald Beyond, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, and a port of previously iOS-exclusive RPG Fantasian, as well as Visions of Mana.
Square Enix doesn’t provide sales figures for these titles, but we do know that Visions of Mana‘s developer was hit by massive layoffs on the day of the game’s release, prompting its director to quit and sign up with Square Enix instead (before opening up his own studio back in March).
The company also points to the success of Final Fantasy XIV expansion Dawntrail in its MMO department, which, along with Dragon Quest X‘s January update, contributed to a 2.6 billion yen increase in operating income for the MMO area.
In terms of Square Enix’s future, the company is currently working on major new entries in the Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts franchises, although it’s been quite some time since we heard from either of them.
Still, the publisher has assured fans that Kingdom Hearts IV is, in fact, still in development, and Dragon Quest producer Yuji Horii has made similar assurances with regards to Dragon Quest XII, so we can but hope.
You can check out Square Enix’s full results briefing for the 2024-25 fiscal year here, and if you want a more sober breakdown of the numbers, you can read the earnings report here.
