Square Enix released today the financial results for the fiscal quarter ending on June 31st, 2017. As you can see in the table below, all are in the black, with both sales and income seeing a solid increase year-on-year.

We also see that the digital entertainment segment is the publisher's biggest revenue driver, and even here the year-on-year comparison is visibly positive.

The accompanying press release also included a detailed explanation of the company's performance. While retail sales of games (included those western games published in Japan by Square Enix) released during the quarter declined, causing an overall decline in net sales for console titles (from 12.2 billion yen to 11 billion yen), strong digital download sales of games launched in previous quarters like NieR: Automata determined an increase in profits year-on year.

The mobile area of the business remains strong, while Final Fantasy XIV's expansion Stormblood led to an increase of monthly subscribers, and consequentially to a boosted operating income and net sales for the MMORPG segment compared to the same period in 2016 (from 5.6 billion yen to 9.3 billion yen).

"In the Digital Entertainment segment during the three-month period ended June 30, 2017, a decline in revenues from packaged products of new own game titles and third party software has led to a decrease of net sales, while strong download sales of previously released catalogue titles such as “NieR:Automata,” have resulted in an increase of operating income in the area of console

games, compared to the prior fiscal year.

In the smart devices and PC browser area, our established lineup of popular games such as “FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS,” “HOSHI NO DRAGON QUEST,” “DRAGON QUEST

MONSTERS SUPER LIGHT” and “KINGDOM HEARTS Union χ” is continuing to show strong performances and increased both net sales and operating profit, compared to the prior fiscal year. In the area of massively multiplayer online role playing games, revenues from sales of the latest expansion disk of “FINAL FANTASY XIV” and increase of number of monthly subscribers boosted by the expansion resulted in an increase of net sale and operating income, compared to the prior fiscal year."

Keep in mind that the period described here did not include Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and Dragon Quest XI, which were both released in July, after the fiscal quarter ended.

Both NieR: Automata and Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood definitely deserve the mention as profit drivers, since they're exceptional products. If you're not familiar with them, you can check out our review of Yoko Taro's labor of love and of Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion.