• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Square Enix posts 9 month ~$51M profit, credits FFXIV, Sengoku IXA, & Million Arthur

N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Those were the three they called out outside of the arcade business at least.

If you're curious as to why 9 months, their fiscal year started in April.

These results only apply as of the end of December in case you're wondering about Tomb Raider HD and DQM:SL.

Square Enix said:
During the nine-month period ended December 31, 2013, the distribution sales of console game
titles in North America were strong. In addition, Software sales and operation of “FINAL FANTASY
XIV: A REALM REBORN,” a massively multiplayer online role playing game released in August
2013, have been making favorable progress. Content for platforms such as smart devices and PC
browser has continued to build upon its already solid growth. Among others, “SENGOKU IXA,” a
browser game, has been showing steady performance, and “Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur,” a
mobile social game, has become an instant hit in Taiwan and mainland China, following Korea,
while its platform has expanded to include PlayStation Vita.
In the Amusement business, sales of “LORD of VERMILION III” and “GROOVE COASTER
Arcade Edition” were strong, and the operation of the amusement facilities has been showing
steady performance through efficient store management efforts.
Forecasts for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 are unchanged from those previously
issued on May 13, 2013.
Click to expand...
Source: http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/14q3release.pdf
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
The turnaround for FFXIV will go down in history as one of the most amazing about-faces ever at that scale.

Game is still largely derivative but no less fun and has found a great market segment to own in its "evolved WoW + GW2 + pretty graphics + cutscene-driven story" strength. Really enjoyed playing it post ARR. It deserves whatever success it can get.
 
Z

ZombieFred

Unconfirmed Member
FrankCaron said:
The turnaround for FFXIV will go down in history as one of the most amazing about-faces ever at that scale.
.
Click to expand...

I have to agree there, they really did pull a little miracle how they manage to turn that title around and save grace to fans and the genre alike. Got to praise the talented minds to make that possible.
 
C

Chesskid1

Banned
i actually just started my free trial of FF14 on ps3 yesterday, after picking it up for $10 off PS+.

glad to hear everyone hyping it :D
 
Z

zomgbbqftw

Banned
The full report:

http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/14q3earnings.pdf

"Net sales and operating income in the Digital Entertainment segment totaled ¥56,552 million (a decrease of 2.2% from the same period of the prior fiscal year) and ¥6,796 million (operating loss of ¥392 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year), respectively."

That's the games division, which had a $68m operating profit for the nine months ended Dec 31st. Not bad SE, not too bad at all...
 
P

pretty done

Member
Mediocre MMO, browser game, mobile game

I fear for the future of Square games and we don't have anyone to take their place in the console RPG space. Rough times ahead.
 
Go_Ly_Dow

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
They're actually turning it around...although these are still results of Wada's decisions.

As much as his decisions are the main cause of S-Es decline what I did like about him was how he kept faith and gave power to the developers. Letting Toriyama finish the XIII series despite the decline, green lighting XIV's revival and keeping Versus alive by moving it to next-gen.

In future they just need to give power to the right people first time round.
 
M

Maybesew

Member
Good to see them profitable. Last year started out with their "disappointment" with tomb raider, so it's good to see them at least making money.

If horrible mobile games drive that profitability, it's no bother to me as long as they keep making other decent games. I'm sure Thief will be a "disappointment" for them this year too
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
FrankCaron said:
The turnaround for FFXIV will go down in history as one of the most amazing about-faces ever at that scale.
Click to expand...

And FFXV would go down in history as the most successful turnaround for the entire single-player Final Fantasy franchise after years of mediocrity, or so one would hope.
 
F

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
Goli said:
I don't think they'll ever localize any of the Million Arthur games.
Click to expand...
There's the rest of the Sisilala Overdrive brand stuff too, but I guess they never really planned to release those outside of Japan. I'm still bummed that TWEWY Live Remix never got an English version though. One would think that a mobile focus would mean more frequent localizations but alas.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
I would love to see the split between the games mentioned.

They're about to lose a XIV customer though. Game just isn't good enough and I doubt 2.2 will improve anything.
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
Dark_castle said:
And FFXV would go down in history as the most successful turnaround for the entire single-player Final Fantasy franchise after years of mediocrity, or so one would hope.
Click to expand...
I am unflinchingly doubtful of that, but if it happens, I will be the first one to celebrate the return of the singluar franchise that made me a gamer by running out and buying a PS4 and the game.

Watching FF die has been like watching a loved one grow senile and become a shell of former self for me, and I'd give anything for a return to that former glory.
 
G

Goli

Member
Fuu said:
There's the rest of the Sisilala Overdrive brand stuff too, but I guess they never really planned to release those outside of Japan. I'm still bummed that TWEWY Live Remix never got an English version though. One would think that a mobile focus would mean more frequent localizations but alas.
Click to expand...

Well, the rest of the Sisilala Overdrive games are very... Japanese. I don't think they'd be well received here. If they did get released I think they'd get the same kind of attention games like Senran Kagura get for some of the illustrations in them. TWEWY Live Remix is getting shut down in Japan so it was obviously not a big hit there, probably wouldn't have been one here either, but I'm still hoping they localize Chaos Rings Sigma.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
kunluncat said:
Where is DQX? Is it not worth to mention?
Click to expand...

They didn't make a call out to DQX or their Japanese retail releases.

They did highlight FFXIV, social-mobile/browser (especially the two in the title), game distribution in North America (like Saints Row 4), and two arcade titles.
 
S

saichi

Member
Not sure why people keep praising about FF14 "turnaround". It makes no sense to release a mess with the initial release then takes another year and more money to come out with a good product.
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
saichi said:
Not sure why people keep praising about FF14 "turnaround". It makes no sense to release a mess with the initial release then takes another year and more money to come out with a good product.
Click to expand...
They clearly didn't intend for it to be shit out of the gate.

Square-Enix stuck out the pain of the revamp, honored its consumers by offering free upgrades + free play time all the way through until it was perceived as fixed and beyond, and actually accepted it made horrible mistakes whilst fixing them thereafter without arrogance.

That is UNDOUBTEDLY worth praise. The alternative is SimCity.
 
SEGAvangelist

SEGAvangelist

Member
Good news for FFXIV. The game was rebuilt into a quality game in such a short time. Very impressive. It was a big risk and paid off.
 
N

Nightengale

Member
saichi said:
Not sure why people keep praising about FF14 "turnaround". It makes no sense to release a mess with the initial release then takes another year and more money to come out with a good product.
Click to expand...

Nobody's denying the major mess that was A Realm Stillborn, and whatever money, time and opportunity cost was lost with them having to reborn it...

But in the long-term, if they're able to sustain FF14 for as long as feasibly possible, especially in the Asian markets, and recoup their losses, then it would had at least not been in vain.
 
G

Goli

Member
I'm really happy Groove Coaster's arcade version is doing well, I hope this means more Groove Coaster for any platform in the future. Groove Coaster Zero on iOS is probably one of the best rhythm games I've ever played, ever.
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
FrankCaron said:
I am unflinchingly doubtful of that, but if it happens, I will be the first one to celebrate the return of the singluar franchise that made me a gamer by running out and buying a PS4 and the game.

Watching FF die has been like watching a loved one grow senile and become a shell of former self for me, and I'd give anything for a return to that former glory.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm so tired of waiting for this game to come out and prove the world that there are still people in Square Enix who knows how to make good mainline FF after the whole PS360 gen.
 
D

DigitalDevilSummoner

zero cognitive reasoning abilities
FrankCaron said:
They clearly didn't intend for it to be shit out of the gate.
Click to expand...

Actually they had a review ban before XIV's original release and the beta phase was shorter than planned. Kotaku at the time expressed concerns.

I have to side with saichi above. They threw a ton of money and insane resources (300 team members were reported at one time) for more than two years to bring this to life. This was not just a mater of good or bad, Yoshida himself said it was a make or break deal for Square as a whole.
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
DigitalDevilSummoner said:
Actually they had a review ban before XIV's original release and the beta phase was shorter than planned. Kotaku at the time expressed concerns.

I have to side with saichi above. They threw a ton of money and insane resources (300 team members were reported at one time) for more than two years to bring this to life. This was not just a mater of good or bad, Yoshida himself said it was a make or break deal for Square as a whole.
Click to expand...
Willful ignorance is a different issue. What I'm trying to say is that I believe they felt they were releasing the right product. "They" being the misguided director-level team which was suitably supplanted following the game's bombing.
 
N

Nerokis

Member
DigitalDevilSummoner said:
Actually they had a review ban before XIV's original release and the beta phase was shorter than planned. Kotaku at the time expressed concerns.

I have to side with saichi above. They threw a ton of money and insane resources (300 team members were reported at one time) for more than two years to bring this to life. This was not just a mater of good or bad, Yoshida himself said it was a make or break deal for Square as a whole.
Click to expand...

It would be hard to argue that SE somehow intended to release the game in such a sad state. That the open beta was postponed implies SE didn't want more people to see the game, not confidence in the (soon to be released) product.

Considering what a failure FFXIV was in every sense, turning it around into a critical and commercial success is very impressive. No matter the resources being invested, from the outset very few would have predicted things would turn out as well as they have. It's both an incredible achievement and an important one, and it's nice to see the team's extreme dedication rewarded.
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
$50 million in 9 months for a company of that size seems a bit anorexic.

Or is this par for the course for a company the size of SE in this industry?
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Member
Wagram said:
I strongly disagree.
Click to expand...
And what in your opinion is a better product from them? I assume you'd reference something Eidos-developed, which I think contradicts the spirit of what Kaguri was suggesting, which is simply fact: FFXIV ARR is the best internally-developed Squeenix game in ages.
 
D

Dark_castle

Junior Member
FrankCaron said:
And what in your opinion is a better product from them? I assume you'd reference something Eidos-developed, which I think contradicts the spirit of what Kaguri was suggesting, which is simply fact: FFXIV ARR is the best internally-developed Squeenix game in ages.
Click to expand...
I wonder if Type-0 could argue otherwise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Konami raises forecasts as profits rise 53% to $427m
Business
39
2K
ReBurn replied
Sonic Frontiers Sold Over 2.9 Million Copies As Of December 2022 - Persona Series Sold 1.5 Million Copies Worldwide From October to December 2022
News Sales-Age
47
3K
Fat Frog replied
Square Enix Announces Declining Financial Results; Planning Multiple New Games Including New IP
News Business Game Dev 2 3
107
6K
Labadal replied
Capcom reports record profits yet again as older games continue to sell
Business Game Dev Sales-Age
38
3K
AREYOUOKAY? replied
Intel reports a drop in revenue of 32% YoY
Business 2
50
3K
winjer replied
Top Bottom