Dragon Quest DS boosts Square Enix profits
Profits up 14 per cent as sales fall for first half of year
Role-playing specialist Square Enix has enjoyed a rise in profits of almost 14 per cent for the first half of the financial year, thanks in part to impressive sales of Dragon Quest V on the DS.
For the six months ended September 30, profit was JPY 6 billion, up 13.9 per cent from JPY 5.2 billion for the previous year.
However, sales for the company were down to JPY 68 billion, compared to JPY 72.3 billion in 2007.
Dragon Quest V for the DS, which was first released in July 2008 in Japan, sold over 1.15 million units in the region.
Other sales figures reveal that PSP title Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII sold a further 620,000 units during the six months from April to September, bringing lifetime-to-date sales to 1.92 million units, while Final Fantasy IV for the DS sold 440,000 copies, pushing total sales to 1.04 million units.
Xbox 360 exclusive RPG Infinite Undiscovery has so far sold 410,000 copies.
The publisher expects that full year sales will be down to 11.5 million units, compared to 14.4 million the previous year, but revenues are expected to hit JPY 160 billion, up from JPY 147.5 billion.