Square Enix ups fiscal forecast following stronger-than-expected sales

Square Enix saw a large-scale swing to profits during its last fiscal quarter compared to the same period last year, as results for the company's video game business rocketed. In fact, the company is so confident that these boosted figures will continue, that it has revised its forecast for the current quarter, and now believes that it will make around three times the income it originally had estimated. For the six month period ended September 30, 2014, Square Enix originally thought it would make around 66 billion yen ($644.5 million) in revenue and up to 1.3 billion yen ($12.7 million) in profit. Now the company is forecasting 71 billion yen ($692.6 million) in revenue, and around 3.5 billion yen ($34.2 million) in profit. Square Enix says this change in forecast is mainly due to repeat sales of current video game titles, coupled with company-wide efforts to reduce costs. Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X continue to sell favorably, says the company, while Murdered: Soul Suspect is also mentioned as having some effect on the boosted sales. For the quarter ended June 30, 2014, Square Enix's Digital Entertainment segment recorded revenues of 23.5 billion yen ($229.5 million), up 202.5 percent year-over-year, and operating income of 4.5 billion yen ($43.9 million), up 346.2 percent year-over-year. Overall, Square Enix saw revenues of 37.8 billion yen ($368.7 million), up 56.8 percent year-over-year, and profits of 3.4 billion yen ($33.2 million), compared to losses of 493 million yen ($4.8 million) year-over-year.