Square Enix has released its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31st, 2023, and although the company has released several high-profile games over the course of the year, including Octopath Traveler II, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, and Live A Live, sales for its Digital Entertainment (i.e. console games, MMOs, mobile games) sector fell by 12.2% from 279.6 billion JPY to 245.5 billion JPY.
Overall net sales for the company also decreased by roughly 6% from 365.2 billion JPY to 343.2 billion JPY. All told, it's a relatively minor drop and doesn't appear to have had any major impact on the company's share price, which currently stands at 6,750 JPY, its highest level since November 2022.
As for the reasoning behind the drop, Square Enix states that the year's releases simply didn't generate as much revenue as those from FY22. As a reminder, this includes titles such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Outriders, and NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139. It also notes that FY23 didn't see the launch of any major expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, a game that undoubtedly generates a great deal of ongoing revenue.
Looking ahead, however, the company predicts that its FY24 period (which ends March 31st, 2024) will be slightly rosier, forecasting overall net sales of 360 billion JPY, an increase of nearly 5% on this year's 343.2 billion JPY. Naturally, the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI for PlayStation 5 is sure to be a huge hit, particularly with the introduction of console bundles in multiple regions and PS5 faceplates and controllers over in Japan.
Finally, much to our chagrin, Square Enix appears to be doubling down on its efforts to make NFTs and blockchains a thing. It states that it will "continue to pursue investments globally" and "accelerate blockchain game development", so there you go.