Square Enix Reports Earnings - MMO Revenue Down, HD Games Down, and Mobile Games Down

Square Enix reported their Q2 2018 earnings (FY Q1 2019) this last week and the numbers weren't particularly good. Revenue is down across every major category including MMO Games, Mobile Games, and HD Games (everything excluding MMO / Mobile). Revenue declines at the MMO division aren't uprising as its been a year since Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion launched. Revenues are likely to pick up with the launch of the next expansion which will likely be announced at Fan Fest in mid-November.

Revenues dipped in HD games as well as Square Enix didn't have any major game launches on consoles this quarter. Things should improve next quarter as Octopath Traveler has proven to be a success but those numbers weren't booked this quarter and will show up in Square Enix's next earnings report.

While mobile games have long been a bright spot for Square Enix things have slowed down this quarter with revenues decreasing significantly quarter over quarter. Square Enix reported the lowest mobile games revenue in 12 months this quarter at 19.6B yen ($180M USD). Despite the slowdown, mobile game revenues were still more than MMO (6.3B Yen) + HD Games (6.3B Yen) combined.

Time will tell if Square Enix's new mobile games will be able to boost revenues going forward. Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire has been a huge success, but it's operated by Machine Zone, not Square Enix (Square Enix gets a licensing fee from Machine Zone though). Star Ocean: Anamnesis also launched recently in English, but wasn't included in this quarter's numbers.

Company wide revenues totaled 45.4B Yen ($410M) with operating income (profit excluding taxes and interest) coming in at 4.2B Yen ($37.8M).