Square Enix profits down, but not out as familiar franchises keep sales alive

If you think we're going to explain that mess of scribbles above -- fuggedaboutit! What we have parsed from Square Enix's six-month financial report (April–September 2010) is a rather slight net income: ¥1.723 billion ($21.4 million). While any company would take pocket change over a loss, Square Enix profits are indeed down 36 percent from the same period last year, and software sales for the first half of this fiscal year have relied heavily on "contribution from highly profitable carryover sales of major titles released in March" -- in other words: Final Fantasy XIII picked up the slack.

And who were the slackers? Square Enix highlighted five "major titles" released during the period:

• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (DS) - 1.28 million units sold (Japan-only)
• Final Fantasy XIV (PC) - 630K units sold (worldwide)
• Just Cause 2 (multiplatform) - 560K units sold (worldwide)*
• Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (multiplatform) - 1.12 million units sold (worldwide)
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP) - 510K units sold (worldwide)*
  
  *Title released in some regions prior to April 2010; sales only reflect those recorded in the six months ending September 30, 2010.

Finally, Square Enix heralded its recent partnership with Chinese online games publisher Shanda Games; a deal indicative of two of the company's three proclaimed growth strategies: globalization and becoming "network centric." As for the third? Square Enix's three-pronged attack also stresses "strengthening our own-IPs." So when's that next Final Fantasy coming out again?

[Image: Year-over-year comparison of monthly revenues from existing outlets; source: Square Enix]