Square Enix report strong third-quarter results, driven by Final Fantasy XIV

Bobby Mills February 8, 2022

Some people tend to underestimate the value of a good, strong franchise in bolstering the portfolio of a games company. Nintendo can put out all the experimental new IPs they like, but if they find themselves straggling in the harsh waters of the industry, as they have done a handful of times in recent years, it’s Mario or Link they’ll fall back on. Likewise, when Sony deliver their State of Play presentations, it’s a fairly safe bet that your Call of Duties, FIFAs (and maybe even the odd Crash Bandicoot tossed in for variety) will be cropping up somewhere. Not even worth making a bingo card for. We’ve now had yet another example of this courtesy of the RPG legends over at Square Enix, who have revealed their third-quarter earnings for the financial period just passed. They’re quite admirable – and top of the list? The evergreen Final Fantasy franchise. When in doubt, play the hits.

As Siliconera reports, Square have released the financial statements detailing how their earnings have broken down lately. “While sales for the company’s general game sub-segment went down,” it states, “sales for its MMO sub-segment rose” compared to 2020. This is quite surprising considering the state the world was in two years ago, with far more people inside due to pandemic restrictions and thus ripe pickings for a hit of MMO dopamine.

Final Fantasy XIV screengrab. — You’ve heard of ‘Mr. Steal Your Girl.’ This is ‘Team Crash Your Server’.

Thank heavens for Final Fantasy

There is, however, an explanation; nay, a culprit. Square have attributed this performance to Final Fantasy XIV, the online remake of the much-maligned original adventure. Famously, the game saw a tremendous spike in its userbase over the holiday season when its new DLC expansion, Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker, dropped. So staggering was the influx of players that the servers buckled under the load, causing Square to pull the game cold turkey from digital storefronts. We reported on this phenomenon last month – to cut a long story short, after a bit of behind-the-scenes tinkering, the game was put back on sale, and now enjoys its substantial growth (largely) lag-free. Today, the player base is circa 25 million. Nothing a spot of glue and duct-tape couldn’t fix.

So it’s easy to see why the MMO section of the financial statement is on the up n’ up, but what of the general game part? The report has a suggestion: “this was largely due to a title like Final Fantasy VII Remake not releasing within that period.” It’s possible that Square fans may be holding onto their cash until the hotly anticipated remaster releases, leading to a doldrum period for the company. Lord knows they won’t be fixing things with the imminent (steaming garbage) cloud ports of Kingdom Hearts. That’s an article for another day, but: shame on you, guys. 1 and 2 are PS2 games, and I have to stream them?!

Kingdom Hearts Cloud gag. — Not what I want to think of when I hear the phrase ‘Kingdom Hearts cloud.’

Regardless, it’s refreshing to hear of a game studio enjoying some stability in these uncertain, tumultuous times, especially one as storied as Square Enix. They’ve hit on the winning formula. All they need to do is keep pumping out Final Fantasy titles, and they’ve got a perpetual golden goose. Now where’s my Cloud kart racing spinoff?

Are you intrigued by this report? Are you a Final Fantasy fan? Let us know!

Via, Siliconera.