Paul Loughrey
09:45 (BST)
22/11/2005
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Square-Enix posts higher sales but lower profits in six monthly results
No commitment on next generation software titles
Japanese software developer Square-Enix has posted its half-year results and revised its forecast for the full fiscal year, following higher sales but a drop of almost 60 per cent in profits.
Despite an 11 per cent increase in overall sales compared to the same period in 2004 the figures were much lower than expected, particularly for the two hopefuls, Romancing SaGa and Drag On Dragoon 2 (to be released in the West as Drakengard 2). The titles sold 450,000 and 210,000 units respectively.
The company is still expecting positive results for the full fiscal period ending March 31st, 2006, thanks to a strong line-up for current generation consoles. The latest in its Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XII, and the sequel to its acclaimed Disney collaboration, Kingdom Hearts 2 will spearhead the sales for the latter part of the year.
Square-Enix president, Yoichi Wada, hinted that Kingdom Hearts 2, the original of which saw an extremely positive reception in the West, could be reaching the US and other territories as early as spring 2006.
Square-Enix recently announced that its acquisition of multi-faceted game company Taito was almost complete. On September 28th, Taito will become a subsidiary of Square-Enix, which is itself the result of a merger between Enix Corporation and Square Co. Due to the timing of the acquisition, Taito's first half-year results have no bearing on the consolidated figures for Square-Enix.
Looking forward, the company's plans for next generation (Xbox 360, PS3, and Revolution) titles are fairly well guarded at this juncture. Final Fantasy XI is already confirmed for Microsoft's Xbox 360, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is in development for Nintendo Revolution.
However, a recent press release issued by the company stated: "Speculation about the availability of the Final Fantasy series and Dragon Quest series games on these systems has been reported on various media. However, we have made no concrete decision on our strategic direction of this issue."
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