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- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Thread starter
- #1
https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/pdf/23q4release.pdf
Sources
Financial Results - https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/pdf/23q4earnings.pdf
Financial Results Briefing Session - https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/pdf/23q4slides.pdf
Previous threads
FY3/2023
Q1 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/fo...3-2023-april-june-2022-financial-results.974/
Q2 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/fo...-6-month-period-ended-september-30-2022.1186/
Q3 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/square-enix-q3-fy3-2023-financial-results.1354/
Sources
Financial Results - https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/pdf/23q4earnings.pdf
Financial Results Briefing Session - https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/pdf/23q4slides.pdf
Previous threads
FY3/2023
Q1 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/fo...3-2023-april-june-2022-financial-results.974/
Q2 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/fo...-6-month-period-ended-september-30-2022.1186/
Q3 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/square-enix-q3-fy3-2023-financial-results.1354/
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Despite not having any huge releases, revenue is kept high and their MMO revenue has managed to stay consistently high as well. Going to be really interesting to see how big they grow once FF16, FF7R2, KH4, DQ12 all release somewhat sequentially.
I think ¥120B for HD games is possible, add the ¥40-50B from MMOs and SE is hitting $1.2B+ on console+PC. If they can get a more steady AAA/PC lineup going, or have a big hit, they'll be neck and neck with Ubisoft, maybe even double Capcom.
And this is without their huge mobile revenue of ~$1B.
SE are a very undervalued company.
I think ¥120B for HD games is possible, add the ¥40-50B from MMOs and SE is hitting $1.2B+ on console+PC. If they can get a more steady AAA/PC lineup going, or have a big hit, they'll be neck and neck with Ubisoft, maybe even double Capcom.
And this is without their huge mobile revenue of ~$1B.
SE are a very undervalued company.
Yes but there is a reason why. Their profit margin is too low, and there is no growth in their forecast. How can they improve on that? My take is:
Make more 2D HD games for the Switch and Switch 2.
Port all non Switch games to Switch 2
Do not lock FF16 on just one system, release it on PC, Xbox, and the Switch 2 asap.
Reboot Chrono Trigger/Cross games for next gen. Also Xenogears, Vagrant Story, and Parasite Eve.
Release new MMO Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts games on PC and mobile.
Remake FF6 for all consoles and PC after finishing FF7 remake
I see a great future ahead for SE
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Their profit margin is actually pretty good.
- Overall: 15-20%
- Mobile: 20%
- MMO: 40-50%
- HD Gaming: -15-10%
SE also has a strong balance sheet, $1.5B in cash.
SE need to get their AAA pipeline well managed, we might see that this generation with FF16, FF7R2, Neir 3, KH4, DQ12, FF7R3 all releasing hopefully. Forspoken would have been a great addition but it did not do well. If they had managed and kept CD, Eidos Montreal and IOI they could have been a real juggernaut.
Getting help from Sony could be crucial here. SE said how Playstation exclusivity has led to far quicker dev times, therefore lower cost and the possible ability to release more than 1 game per generation is huge, and marketing reach that SE would not have.
FF7R was already a big success, we will see how it bodes for FF16 and FF7R2 with Playstation exclusivity.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
You would have to go to previous FYs where they disclosed it.
Oh ok I'm aware of those previous years, was just wondering if they continued to share that data nowadays (in those documents with only a bunch of tables and numbers, which I don't usually check).
Look at the number of slides on NFTs.
It is very clear that NFTs has more of a future within SE than single player games, because the mgmt thinks their current business model isn't working.
Multiple consecutive underperformance of games they spent heavily on Forspoken, Avengers, GotG, Outriders etc, which calls in doubt their ability to actually compete with the likes of Bamco or Capcom (their peers). I believe the mgmt is starting to doubt SE's ability to deliver AAA experiences, while AA are good stabilizers but no recipes for major growth. There is much riding on FF16, it seems, in terms of the future of their SP games, but there is no doubt mgmt sees NFT as SE's way out.
No amount of whitewashing will remove the factual stain on their record right in terms of the difficulty the Digital Games segment faces.
It is very clear that NFTs has more of a future within SE than single player games, because the mgmt thinks their current business model isn't working.
Multiple consecutive underperformance of games they spent heavily on Forspoken, Avengers, GotG, Outriders etc, which calls in doubt their ability to actually compete with the likes of Bamco or Capcom (their peers). I believe the mgmt is starting to doubt SE's ability to deliver AAA experiences, while AA are good stabilizers but no recipes for major growth. There is much riding on FF16, it seems, in terms of the future of their SP games, but there is no doubt mgmt sees NFT as SE's way out.
No amount of whitewashing will remove the factual stain on their record right in terms of the difficulty the Digital Games segment faces.
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Forspoken more likely lost them money.
Yeah it is the margins of their HD segment that have been problematic for years.You would have to go to previous FYs where they disclosed it.
No surprise they stopped discolosing it after the Avengers bust.
The following comes from my webpage: https://r134x7.github.io/nintendo-earnings-data-and-other-video-game-companies/#/square-enix
Consolidated Operating Results:
Sales Per Software Unit:
Since it is the 4th quarter of FY3/2023, here is Special Page data:
Consolidated Operating Results Cumulative:
Sales Per Software Unit Cumulative:
Consolidated Operating Results:
Code:
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD. | FY3/2023 |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Consolidated Financial Results |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Data as of March 31st, 2023 |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Net Sales | YoY% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | ¥74,876M | -15.49% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | ¥88,516M | +10.21% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | ¥92,224M | -11.92% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | ¥87,651M | -4.36% |
+========================================+
| 1st Half | ¥163,392M | -3.27% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3/4 | ¥255,616M | -6.58% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥343,267M | -6.03% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2024 Forecast| ¥360,000M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
###
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Operating Income | YoY% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | ¥14,430M | -16.67% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | ¥11,614M | -1.83% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | ¥15,271M | -27.25% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | ¥3,016M | -66.94% |
+========================================+
| 1st Half | ¥26,044M | -10.64% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3/4 | ¥41,315M | -17.6% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥44,331M | -25.19% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2024 Forecast| ¥55,000M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
###
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Operating Margin |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | 19.27% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | 13.12% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | 16.56% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | 3.44% |
+============================+
| 1st Half | 15.94% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3/4 | 16.16% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| 12.91% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2024 Forecast| 15.28% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
###
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Net Income | YoY% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | ¥18,355M | +45.04% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | ¥21,118M | +104.32% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | ¥6,924M | -58.92% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | ¥2,867M | -74.33% |
+========================================+
| 1st Half | ¥39,473M | +71.69% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3/4 | ¥46,397M | +16.45% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥49,264M | -3.43% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2024 Forecast| ¥38,500M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
###Sales Per Software Unit:
Code:
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Square Enix | FY3/2023 |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Segment Information |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Data as of March 31st, 2023 |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| HD Games |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| | Sales | YoY% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | ¥12,000M | -52.19% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | ¥17,400M | +20.83% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | ¥28,700M | +10.38% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | ¥20,400M | -5.56% |
+======================================+
| First Half | ¥29,400M | -25.57% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3 Qtrs | ¥58,100M | -11.3% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥78,500M | -9.87% |
+======================================+
| *Sales might include: - Downloadable |
| content purchases |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| MMO |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| | Sales | YoY% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | ¥14,100M | +21.55% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | ¥14,500M | -9.94% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | ¥11,900M | -41.95% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | ¥12,800M | -8.57% |
+======================================+
| First Half | ¥28,600M | +3.25% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3 Qtrs | ¥40,500M | -15.98% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥53,300M | -14.31% |
+======================================+
| **MMO sales includes subscriptions |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| HD Games & MMO Sales |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| | | | Sales Per |
| | | Software | Software |
| | Sales | Units | Unit |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st Quarter | ¥26,100M | 4.28M | ¥6,098 |
| YoY% | -28.88% | -56.68% | +64.15% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 2nd Quarter | ¥31,900M | 5.13M | ¥6,218 |
| YoY% | +4.59% | -30.11% | +49.65% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 3rd Quarter | ¥40,600M | 7.02M | ¥5,783 |
| YoY% | -12.69% | -42.6% | +52.1% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 4th Quarter | ¥33,200M | 6.01M | ¥5,524 |
| YoY% | -6.74% | -37.91% | +50.19% |
+==================================================+
| First Half | ¥58,000M | 9.41M | ¥6,164 |
| YoY% | -13.69% | -45.35% | +57.97% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| 1st 3 Qtrs | ¥98,600M | 16.43M | ¥6,001 |
| YoY% | -13.28% | -44.21% | +55.43% |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
|FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥131,800M | 22.44M | ¥5,873 |
| YoY% | -11.72% | -42.65% | +53.94% |
+==================================================+
| *Sales might include: - Downloadable content |
| purchases **MMO sales includes subscriptions |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+Since it is the 4th quarter of FY3/2023, here is Special Page data:
Consolidated Operating Results Cumulative:
Code:
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD. |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Consolidated Financial Results |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Data as of March 31st, 2023 |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Net Sales |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| FY3/2004 Cumulative | ¥63,202M |
| FY3/2005 Cumulative | ¥73,864M |
| FY3/2006 Cumulative | ¥124,473M |
| FY3/2007 Cumulative | ¥163,472M |
| FY3/2008 Cumulative | ¥147,516M |
| FY3/2009 Cumulative | ¥135,693M |
| FY3/2010 Cumulative | ¥192,257M |
| FY3/2011 Cumulative | ¥125,271M |
| FY3/2012 Cumulative | ¥127,896M |
| FY3/2013 Cumulative | ¥147,981M |
| FY3/2014 Cumulative | ¥155,023M |
| FY3/2015 Cumulative | ¥167,891M |
| FY3/2016 Cumulative | ¥214,101M |
| FY3/2017 Cumulative | ¥256,824M |
| FY3/2018 Cumulative | ¥250,394M |
| FY3/2019 Cumulative | ¥271,048M |
| FY3/2020 Cumulative | ¥260,527M |
| FY3/2021 Cumulative | ¥332,532M |
| FY3/2022 Cumulative | ¥365,275M |
| FY3/2023 Cumulative | ¥343,267M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Count | 20 |
| Sum | ¥3,918,507M |
| Average | ¥195,925M |
| Median | ¥165,682M |
| Minimum | ¥63,202M |
| Maximum | ¥365,275M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Operating Income |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| FY3/2004 Cumulative | ¥19,398M |
| FY3/2005 Cumulative | ¥26,438M |
| FY3/2006 Cumulative | ¥15,470M |
| FY3/2007 Cumulative | ¥25,916M |
| FY3/2008 Cumulative | ¥21,520M |
| FY3/2009 Cumulative | ¥12,277M |
| FY3/2010 Cumulative | ¥28,235M |
| FY3/2011 Cumulative | ¥7,325M |
| FY3/2012 Cumulative | ¥10,713M |
| FY3/2013 Cumulative | ¥-6,081M |
| FY3/2014 Cumulative | ¥10,543M |
| FY3/2015 Cumulative | ¥16,426M |
| FY3/2016 Cumulative | ¥26,018M |
| FY3/2017 Cumulative | ¥31,295M |
| FY3/2018 Cumulative | ¥38,176M |
| FY3/2019 Cumulative | ¥24,531M |
| FY3/2020 Cumulative | ¥32,759M |
| FY3/2021 Cumulative | ¥47,226M |
| FY3/2022 Cumulative | ¥59,261M |
| FY3/2023 Cumulative | ¥44,331M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Count | 20 |
| Sum | ¥491,777M |
| Average | ¥24,589M |
| Median | ¥25,224M |
| Minimum | ¥-6,081M |
| Maximum | ¥59,261M |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| Net Income |
+−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−+
| FY3/2004 Cumulative | ¥10,993M |
| FY3/2005 Cumulative | ¥14,932M |
| FY3/2006 Cumulative | ¥17,076M |
| FY3/2007 Cumulative | ¥11,619M |
| FY3/2008 Cumulative | ¥9,196M |
| FY3/2009 Cumulative | ¥6,333M |
| FY3/2010 Cumulative | ¥9,509M |
| FY3/2011 Cumulative | ¥-12,043M |
| FY3/2012 Cumulative | ¥6,060M |
| FY3/2013 Cumulative | ¥-13,714M |
| FY3/2014 Cumulative | ¥6,598M |
| FY3/2015 Cumulative | ¥9,831M |
| FY3/2016 Cumulative | ¥19,884M |
| FY3/2017 Cumulative | ¥20,039M |
| FY3/2018 Cumulative | ¥25,821M |
| FY3/2019 Cumulative | ¥18,463M |
| FY3/2020 Cumulative | ¥21,346M |
| FY3/2021 Cumulative | ¥26,942M |
| FY3/2022 Cumulative | ¥51,013M |
| FY3/2023 Cumulative | ¥49,264M |
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| Count | 20 |
| Sum | ¥309,162M |
| Average | ¥15,458M |
| Median | ¥13,276M |
| Minimum | ¥-13,714M |
| Maximum | ¥51,013M |
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###Sales Per Software Unit Cumulative:
Code:
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| Square Enix |
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| Segment Information - Cumulative |
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| Data as of March 31st, 2023 |
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| HD Games & MMO Sales |
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| | | | Sales Per |
| | | Software | Software |
| | Sales | Units | Unit |
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| FY3/2020 Cml.| ¥82,100M| 18.09M| ¥4,538 |
| FY3/2021 Cml.| ¥136,400M| 49.9M| ¥2,733 |
| FY3/2022 Cml.| ¥149,300M| 39.13M| ¥3,815 |
| FY3/2023 Cml.| ¥131,800M| 22.44M| ¥5,873 |
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| Count | 4 | | |
| Sum | ¥499,600M | 129.56M | ¥16,959 |
| Average | ¥124,900M | 32.39M | ¥4,240 |
| Median | ¥134,100M | 30.79M | ¥4,177 |
| Minimum | ¥82,100M | 18.09M | ¥2,733 |
| Maximum | ¥149,300M | 49.9M | ¥5,873 |
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| *Sales might include: - Downloadable content |
| purchases **MMO sales includes subscriptions |
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+----------------------------------------+
|From Outline of Results Briefing held |
|on May 13, 2021 (for FY3/2021): |
|We have also made a change to how we |
|disclose our units sold. Whereas the |
|download sales we disclosed previously |
|only included titles launched in the |
|past two years, we now include all sales|
|made during the relevant fiscal year, |
|regardless of when a title may have been|
|released. |
| |
|This change was prompted primarily by |
|the fact that we are making many more |
|sales from our back catalog than we had |
|in the past. |
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| See "Data by Fiscal Year" for HD Games and MMO sales splits |
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You have to account for all the releases for each year. So that fall shotgun blast of games and ports failed to light up the charts and they collectively lost money on those. 2021-2022 didn't have as many games and fewer flops like the Neo World Ends with You and Babylon's Fall. Guardians underperformed but, it doesn't seem like it did as bad as Forspoken.
That doesn't really solve what Square Enix's issue is with console games. The problem is they don't spread out releases enough. Something like the March 2022 release schedule is tough enough (Bablyon's Fall, Triangle Strategy, Chocobo GP and SoP in 3 weeks) but they basically had that same pace of releases from mid September to mid December. There's not enough coverage and not enough marketing material to let that work.
If they had spread it out a bit more with like stuff like Diofield in August and swapping Forspoken with either Valkyrie or Star Ocean and maybe moving like Romancing SaGa Ministrel to early January, we'd have a healthier margin along with some sort of Square Enix Direct to curate the games a bit.
Stuff like Xenogears is nice catalog filler but, it probably isn't moving enough units to offset the AA and AAA failures. A FF6 remake probably isn't going to help with diversifying their IP which is a large point of the AA games.
You mention the spacing issue, but...
I feel SE's real issue is that it's ability to develop games in a on-budget and timely manner, seems to be slipping relative to its domestic competitor companies. The spacing issue is a symptom of that .
The AA games do not cost so much and probably are easily profitable, but do not sell at the numbers required to support a company like SE unless there are many releases. The many AA releases strategy is probably intentional, but the fact they are all closely packed together implies to me that SE has no choice due to slow/delayed development cycle for them.
Then there is the issue of their AAA games, which take extremely long to bake, in an industry where time equals budget (since most of the cost is from manpower), and had multiple of such titles experiencing sales underperformance. These are standard risks for AAA, but SE has a pretty bad batting average as of late. Furthermore, these are also spaced really close to SE's other games, which implies to me SE has no choice but to pack them like this. These are probably the key money losers on a per project basis for SE and drags down the overall margins.
Basically SE is running it's business in the opposite way from Nintendo, where Nintendo sits on games till they can find a good time slot for it. SE instead let's it's development schedule and financial calander dictate when it releases its games, in a oven-to-table approach. This is done probably because the numbers will look even more terrible for the quarter if they don't do this, despite the fact that squeezing them all together result in lower potential sales in the long term and short.
There is no easy way for SE to fix it's development problems, which is why the slides give the impression that NFTs is the way out for the company.
Yeah, there is no easy answer for Square here since the biggest issue is their outside of their lousy marketing is how their AAA efforts have been strikes for the most part. I do think FF16 and Rebirth will help since 16 looks legit and Rebirth will be fine if they keep the same quality as Remake. They also have Sony's money helping with both. However, with the PS5's performance in Japan, they're depending heavily on both games being carried by the overseas market. Dragon Quest 3 make should be in the near future, so that will also help even if that falls more under AA.
But I think more than anything, Square wishes Nintendo had a more powerful system so they could put their higher tier games on it to get better Japanese sales.
Why hasn't Square Enix staggered the sales years for Dragon Quest X and Final Fantasy XIV expansion packs?
Worth people looking over the historic Net Sales & Operating Income to put the previous Financial Year ending 31st March, 2023 into perspective. Besides it was year two of a three year plan. Square Enix rather perfunctory Financial Report doesn't give us much to digest aside from gross blockchain gruel. Neither do the reports from the Japanese publicly listed companies it has partnered with on many of the titles released over the past 12 months. Thankfully both Futurlab & especially People Can Fly have been more forthcoming with details.
STRATEGY UPDATE (31/01/23)
*Project Gemini (People Can Fly/Square Enix) was initially due 2024 although its investor relations page noted how it could be delayed into 2025 similarly to Outriders. Half year Director's Report on the operations 2022 (page 19) & 29th November Presentation Financial Results 9M2022. By December 31st 2022, it was still in pre-production, however...
Director's Report on the Operations of PCF Group in 2022 (28th April, 2023)
[PS4/PS5/XB1/XBS/Steam] Outriders: Worldslayers <FPS> (People Can Fly) {2022.06.28}
Once the game and its DLC were developed and marketed on April 1st 2021 and June 28th 2022, respectively, the Company has been entitled to royalties payable if specific proceeds (as defined in the agreement) from their sales ensure that the publisher recovers a predetermined level of costs incurred in connection with the development, promotion and distribution of the game. The level of royalties depends on the amount of specific proceeds from the game’s and the DLC’s sales. The Group received no royalties from the publisher for the period to December 31st 2022, which means that as at the reporting date net proceeds from the sale of Outriders and its DLC Outriders Worldslayer were insufficient to recover the costs and expenses incurred by the publisher to develop, distribute and promote the game and its DLC. This was confirmed by the royalty statement for the fourth quarter of 2022, received by the Group from the publisher. There can be no assurance that net proceeds from the sale of Outriders and Outriders Worldslayer in future periods will be sufficient for the publisher to recover the costs incurred and to pay royalties to the Group. (page 26)Investment Agreement with Square Enix (revenue exceeded)
- PLN 135m (Jan. 18th, 2022)
- PLN 180m (Jun. 20th, 2022)
- PLN 225m (Nov. 1st, 2022)
- PLN 270m (Apr. 18th, 2023)
- For detailed information on the terms and conditions of the warrants granted to Square Enix Limited by the Parent, including of their exercise by Square Enix Limited to subscribe for shares in the Parent, see the Parent’s Current Report No. 40/2021 of August 29th 2021. (pages 17-20)
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If NFTs are the way out, then they may as well close the doors now and spare the embarrassment.
2 things that separate SQE from their contemporaries with higher HD game margins is SQE:
1) has in-house engine development that is poorly-utilized and/or an unwieldy mess
2) has mid-tier development managed out of house FAR more often than not
So much of SQE's workforce is thrown at their AAA efforts, while Capcom (as a single example) can manage to develop smaller titles like your Mega Mans and Ace Attorneys and Ghost Tricks in tandem with the larger efforts and seem capable of doing so with a smaller workforce, to great success.
No small part of that is Capcom's ability to leverage their engines (MT Framework and RE Engine) for efficiencies, as close to 100% of their output flows through those 2 engines. But Crystal Tools was seemingly abandoned VERY shortly after FFXIII titles were wrapped, Luminous Engine saw 2 uses, one of which was deemed a sales failure. Engines that do not see repeat usage in development are a huge waste of money, and they seemingly don’t see much usage because they’re really only used on 1 franchise (not counting the single MMO in DQX) and built for purpose around the nearest mainline Final Fantasy title rather than as a general-purpose middleware (like SERIOUSLY, they couldn't even use Luminous to also develop KH3 at the barest minimum, how wasteful). Creative Business Unit 3 seemingly used a fork of Luminous in some capacity because the base engine could not accommodate its play style and had to be re-worked significantly to use for FFXIV:ARR. All of this spending on engine work for fewer and fewer games developed per engine is just throwing any good money after bad. But at least it makes for nice tech demos.
Meanwhile, Creative Business Units 2 and 4 have been more than comfortable using other external dev tools, but because a huge number of their staff are soaked up by engine design and AAA productions, a lot of smaller projects rely on a small core production management team and external development studios. This is notable, as SQE relies heavily on this for all of their non-FF and non-KH projects, moreso than any other publisher in Japan; not even Bandai Namco relies that heavily on external developers in terms of the percentage of their total output, so that's saying something. As margins have improved with other publishers, it has partly coincided with a move away from external development wherever possible. It could be coincidental, but the coincidence seems rather striking.
Outsourcing is at its best when you need staff to fill gaps in your own recruitment levels or they can offer something particular to a production (ex: genre expertise), but SQE has seemingly grown to rely on this practice, which some call the "Enix tradition" or some variation of the term. But... Tomoya Asano has produced practically one game per year for the past 5 years (if we include mobile projects, it's 7 games in 5 years), so it's not like a consistent staff for his projects would be a bad investment, so not giving him one is just sticking to a practice long after it makes business sense to continue it.
And with SQE having trouble recruiting new staff as far back as 2018, it creates a bit of a vicious cycle, where they could obviously use the staff and have enough projects to keep them busy, but spend money outsourcing in lieu of recruitment, which artificially lowers staff requirements for several years, and then wonder why recruitment is bad (which is compounded by other factors I won't get into right now).
Either of these issues are bad for margins, but combine them both with a series of high-profile flops and... yeah. And they seemingly don't wish to resolve these issues in the slightest.
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It is a little odd we haven't had a milestone yet 3 months later. Asano Team games usually get something by now.
Yeah, but this time we didn't have that Nintendo marketing (or any marketing at all)... I’m so sad... This game is one of my all-time favorites!
All those extra(aka negligible) PS users couldn't balance out the lack of Nintendo marketing and the uniqueness of being a Nintendo exclusive.
There was Nintendo marketing just not on the same level compared to the first one.
I assume that OT II did quite well but still felt short to what the first game did on a single platform - so they might wanna wait a bit for the announcement until it clears a higher sales threshold.
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There is nothing unique about being Nintendo exclusive outside of being used in console wars lists.
Being in PS Plataforms its going to help the sales of the game in the long term.
I disagree, people definitely view exclusivity differently. You spend $300+ on a system and you want to justify the purchase and people get emotionally attatched to brands.
The majority of AAA games should be multiplatform but there are definitely games that benefit from the “prestige” of exclusivity.
Whether Octopath is one of those games is still in the air.
I feel there's an underreported effect of being actively reported on by Nintendo sites for these kinds of games. The wider Playstation audience tends not to care about these kinds of games so promotion for these games is weaker on those sites.
When these kinds of games are exclusive, they get promoted by Nintendo a fair bit more and in turn generates more coverage from Nintendo news sites. Long-term, we'll have to see but, generally, I feel the post-launch audience for JRPGs has moved more towards PC with the impact worse on Playstation due to how poor the PSN store is for promotion
Playstation players dont care about JRPGs? Ehhh…gonna be hard to justify that argument.
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PlayStation players dont care about JRPGs?
So tell me why games like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Tales of, Persona and others are selling millions only on PlayStation plataforms.
This kind of idea that PlayStation users are not interested in anything outside of sports game and some PlayStation Studios games its so outdated.
I live in a country that the best selling games are Fifa and GTA (Brazil) and still more of 1/3 of my friend list played Final Fantasy VII Remake
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Well, they sure don’t seem to care about this one specifically.
Switch SKU for OT2 is #304 in Video Games on Amazon, #8566 for PS4 and #6812 for PS5. The contribution of the PS ecosystem combined towards sales seems… very minimal overall. So Nintendo’s marketing and Western distribution deal is looking quite possible to have been the better option in hindsight, all things considered.
That's not quite what I mean. JRPG as a broad genre isn't the types of games I'm necessarily referring to. It would be like claiming that Serious Sam should be doing much better since COD and Apex are the current kings of the market.
There are submarkets within the genre and the more niche submarkets have struggled to breakthrough on modern Playstation while they are doing fine on Switch, even if we exclude Japan. It's why NISA moved to port all its games to Switch and Falcom was citing overseas sales when they finally incorporated Switch in their pipeline. Persona 5 just demonstrated that the Switch/PC is comparable to the initial launch despite being 5 years late. Similar for Tales of Vesperia when it got the remaster. The Playstation market is there and should be sizeable but, it's not really showing the respective sales for its overall playerbase.
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JRPGS have a huge audience on Playstation, perhaps even the biggest. Tales, FF, Persona, KH, Nier, some of the biggest in the genre getting most their sales on Playstation.
SE has had huge success with FF7R and Nier, both being exclusive to Playstation in some manner.
Playstation and Nintendo definitely have bigger marketing channels than SE. Its a similar balance with FF16. Playstation will market it far better on far bigger channels than SE could, so having better penetration on a single platform may make more sense than being multiplatform.
With FF, 70-80% of sales are on Playstation and it sells 8-10M+. With smaller titles, the question of how much bigger it can get with bigger marketing is going to be a lot smaller and so the incentive to go exclusive for such marketing means less.
nah, they don't exist as two separate entities and there's no real split in ownership in IPs anymore
Octopath II likely cratered on PlayStation and sold only modestly on Switch. For regions we have sellthrough on:
Japan (ltd)
Japan (ltd)
- Octopath Traveler (NSW) 193,780
- Bravely Default II (NSW) 144,814
- Triangle Strategy (NSW) 137,514
- Live A Live (NSW) 132,803
- Octopath Traveler II (NSW) 89,852
- Octopath Traveler II (PS5) 21,188
- Octopath Traveler II (PS4) 9,972
- Octopath Traveler (NSW) 11,700
- Bravely Default II (NSW) 5,500
- Triangle Strategy (NSW) 9,000
- Live A Live (NSW) 6,600
- Octopath Traveler II (NSW) 5,000
- Octopath Traveler II (PS4+5) 1,000
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When one of the platforms is notably excluded in the games listed as examples, especially when it’s the one that is being suggested as most likely to rival the PS audience, it rather skews the data.
Based on Amazon US data:
Ryza 3 sells more on Switch.
13 Sentinels sells more on Switch.
Diofield sells more on Switch (by a WIDE margin).
Tactics Ogre sells more on Switch.
The only 2 I remembered from the past year that sold better on PS platforms in the past year are Crisis Core and (yuck) Symphonia Remastered. So day-and-date multi-plat release comparisons on the 2 leading JRPG platforms shows that this statement you’re making ain’t all that cut-and-dry.
If the mass amount of outsourcing is the result of preserving the Enix business model, even if what you were suggesting were possible, I don’t think the financial issues can ALL be lumped on the CBUs associated with historically-Square content.
I think there is no doubt in my mind....looking at data...that RPGs sell better on Switch by a significant margin assuming day and date release and the game is not in a broken state. In fact, Japan might be the only place where PS gamers show some parity with Nintendo users, mostly because the genre is heavily woven into the wider gaming culture as compared to other places
Whether it is believed or not is another thing, this is a console war flag anyway looking at the usual suspects that are leaping at defense. Nobody will risk their job leaking actual numbers for such a place, but I think publicly available data supports this view.
The PS audience itself have shifted over time quite significantly. This is no longer the PS1-PS2 era user base, where it was clear that JRPGs overwhelming sold most and sold well on PS platforms back then (though there is not many multiplats at the time we can only really compare the odd title like Grandia). It is also clear to me that many users here are from that era, which reflects in their preferences and obessions.
One important point to consider is that up to PS3 era, Sony still invests in first party JRPGs on its own platforms, this stopped into the PS4 era. Therefore the arguments that "it has SE therefore it doesn't do it" holds no ground, as they had SE since PS1 era, and that never stopped their investment until relatively recently. The direction in which Sony 1P goes strongly correspond to what it perceived it's audiences want and what currently sells best on Sony systems. Sony is nothing if not attuned to what it's current audiences want, it's part of how it successfully broke into the industry to start. This is why it is investing into GaaS despite the fact that no sane GaaS games will drop Sony as a platform.
It is very important to consider the subgenres or RPGs along with their release circumstances when evaluating performances. It's the AAA adjacent JRPGs and the odd smaller JRPGs which are both not on Switch that muddle the ground when it comes to such sales discussion on the broader JRPG genre sales. Almost every significantly simu release has Switch leading, or leading by a significant margin over the long term.
Whether it is believed or not is another thing, this is a console war flag anyway looking at the usual suspects that are leaping at defense. Nobody will risk their job leaking actual numbers for such a place, but I think publicly available data supports this view.
The PS audience itself have shifted over time quite significantly. This is no longer the PS1-PS2 era user base, where it was clear that JRPGs overwhelming sold most and sold well on PS platforms back then (though there is not many multiplats at the time we can only really compare the odd title like Grandia). It is also clear to me that many users here are from that era, which reflects in their preferences and obessions.
One important point to consider is that up to PS3 era, Sony still invests in first party JRPGs on its own platforms, this stopped into the PS4 era. Therefore the arguments that "it has SE therefore it doesn't do it" holds no ground, as they had SE since PS1 era, and that never stopped their investment until relatively recently. The direction in which Sony 1P goes strongly correspond to what it perceived it's audiences want and what currently sells best on Sony systems. Sony is nothing if not attuned to what it's current audiences want, it's part of how it successfully broke into the industry to start. This is why it is investing into GaaS despite the fact that no sane GaaS games will drop Sony as a platform.
It is very important to consider the subgenres or RPGs along with their release circumstances when evaluating performances. It's the AAA adjacent JRPGs and the odd smaller JRPGs which are both not on Switch that muddle the ground when it comes to such sales discussion on the broader JRPG genre sales. Almost every significantly simu release has Switch leading, or leading by a significant margin over the long term.
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