Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts drive record profit for Square Enix

Japanese publisher Square Enix has announced its most successful year to date, reporting record full-year sales and earnings thanks to the strong performance of titles such as Dragon Quest VIII and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

The firm recorded net profit of 14.9 billion Yen (109.7 million Euro) on sales of 73.8 billion Yen (543 million Euro), up almost 17 per cent and 36 per cent respectively on last year's figures, while operating profit rose just over 36 per cent to 26.4 billion Yen (194.3 million Euro).

The single biggest seller during the year was long-awaited sequel Dragon Quest VIII, which sold some 3.61 million units in Japan and is on track to be launched in North America and Europe during FY2006.

Also contributing strongly to sales were the first GBA outing for the relatively new Kingdom Hearts franchise, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which sold a million units between the USA and Japan (and has since been launched in Europe), and the GBA remake bundle of Final Fantasy I and II, which has also come close to a million sales worldwide.

The company's online gaming division also made a significant contribution to profits, with revenue rising by some 55 per cent to 13.8 billion Yen (101.7 million Euro) thanks to the continued strong performance of massively multiplayer titles Final Fantasy XI - which was recently confirmed as an early title for Xbox 360 - and Cross Gate.

Square Enix expects to top these figures once again in the 2006 financial year, with projections calling for net profit of 15.5 billion Yen (114.2 million Euro) on sales of 90 billion yen (663 million Euro). Among the key titles for that period are the next Final Fantasy title, PS2 exclusive Final Fantasy XII, and Kingdom Hearts II, also on PS2.