Final Fantasy 14 still keeping Square Enix afloat amid declining financial results
MMO sales overtake single player games.
Final Fantasy 14 remains the darling of Square Enix's output as the publisher announces declining financial results in its latest report.
Total net sales from the last financial quarter (April to June) were 74.8bn yen, a drop of almost 16 percent compared to the same period last year, while operating income was 14.4bn yen, a drop of almost 17 percent. Net income actually rose due to foreign exchange gains.
However, while net sales of HD games has declined year on year, sales of MMO games have conversely risen year on year.
In fact, the proportion of sales from MMO games was higher than that of HD games for the first time, despite the MMO category only consisting of three games: Final Fantasy 14, Dragon Quest 10, and Final Fantasy 11.
Square Enix states that "paying subscribers for Final Fantasy 14 rose YoY", while for HD games "sales did not reach the level of the previous year despite the release of multiple new titles".
Despite that success, the report states that no expansion pack releases are planned for Final Fantasy 14 this financial year - instead the company will "focus on retaining users through a variety of operational initiatives".
Still, the next patch for Final Fantasy 14 is due later this month, including a farming sim mode. What's more, HD games could still dominate with the likes of Forspoken and Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion due out this financial year, followed by Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in the next.