The first quarter of Square Enix’s 2018-2019 fiscal year passed rather quietly this time around, thanks to both a lack of new releases and lackluster performance from the studio’s mobile titles.
In a report detailing the three-month period ending June 30, 2018, Square Enix reported net sales of ¥45.5 billion (~$408.4 million), down 20 percent from ¥57 billion (~$511.6 million). The company says that a decline was expected since no new games released during the quarter, but notes that sales of previously released games “remained brisk.”
The same couldn’t be said about Square Enix’s catalog of mobile games, however. Both smart device and PC browser games underperformed this quarter and failed to meet the company’s previous expectations.
Overall, both net sales and operating profit decreased year-over-year, though the company notes that the decrease is partially due the lack of a lump-sum license fee payment that was received during the same period the year before.
Net sales and operating profit also decreased for the company’s massively multiplayer online roleplaying games category, though the company says that average revenue per user remained strong this quarter for Final Fantasy XIV, which notably received a major expansion during the final quarter of the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
