Square Enix today held a press conference in Tokyo to present its financial results for fiscal year 2004/2005 to attending reporters and analysts. According to figures released today, the company posted a consolidated net profit of 14.93 billion yen ($138.76 million USD) on sales of 73.86 billion yen ($686.43 million US).

Square Enix reported sales of 11.05 million copies of (packaged) game software worldwide. 6.3 million were sold in Japan, 3.76 million in North America, 920,000 in the European PAL territories and 70,000 in the Asia Pacific region. The single biggest contribution to these numbers has come from Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi (Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King) for PlayStation 2. As of March 31st, the eighth installment of the Dragon Quest series has sold 3.61 million copies in Japan. Total sales of the Game Boy Advance title Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories in Japan and North America have exceeded one million copies. Below you will find sales figures of other titles released during the previous fiscal year:

Radiata Stories, PlayStation 2, 290,000 copies (Japan)
Musashi: Samurai Legend, PlayStation 2, 80,000 copies (North America)
Torneko's Big Adventure 3 Advance, Game Boy Advance, 140,000 copies (Japan)
Final Fantasy I and II Advance, Game Boy Advance, 940,000 copies (worldwide)
Egg Monster Heroes, Nintendo DS, 90,000 copies (Japan)

The continued popularity of Final Fantasy XI in Japan, North America and Europe as well as the success of the PC-based MMORPG Cross Gate in China helped the online division to increase its sales by 55.2% and its operating profit by 112.4%. With the introduction of new PlayOnline titles such as Front Mission Online and Fantasy Earth: Ring of Dominion, the company aims to continue its expansion in this particular market. Square Enix president Youichi Wada explained that until now online games have been the domain of hardcore users. However, starting next year, the market for online games would become a major one, and current negative images would disappear.

Looking ahead, Wada took a cautious approach regarding the introduction of the next generation of hardware, as he mentioned the transition phase would be tough. He also echoed statements he made in Los Angeles last week, saying it was important to look at the new consoles as more than just harware platforms. Since online gaming had become so important, it would be essential to analyze the different models the three first party companies would propose for their respective systems, when it comes to determing which game should be released on which platform.

Square Enix expects to sell 13 million copies of packaged game software (8.5 million copies in Japan, 4.1 million in North America and 400,000 in Europe) during the 12 month period ending on March 31st 2006, in anticipation of the releases of major titles such as Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts 2. Sales are projected to reach 90 billion yen ($836.43 million US) and net profit 15.5 billion yen ($144.05 million US).

• GameWatch