Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker's "Sharp Rise" Contributed To Square Enix's Solid Financials

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Final Fantasy XIV's Endwalker expansion provided a significant boost to Square Enix's fortunes in the latter part of 2021 -- and that was confirmed in the company's most recent financial statement.

Over the final nine months of 2021, a.k.a. the first three quarters of SE's FY2022, net sales were up 7.9% over the previous year's results, north of 273 billion yen ($2.4 billion). That's despite the period being compared to the same time frame in 2020, when Final Fantasy VII Remake was lighting up the charts. The strong results are thanks in part to "a sharp rise in the number of monthly paying subscribers for Final Fantasy XIV, but also to the release of an expansion pack for the title," the press release stated.

The slideshow for the financial report recaps the year and offers a look at what's to come. That includes a busy March, with Babylon's Fall, Triangle Strategy, and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin scheduled for release on the 3rd, 4th, and 18th, respectively. You can also see that digital games far outsell physical copies by a tune of nearly 10-to-1, which was a lower ratio in 2020 -- about 6-to-1, probably thanks to FF7R. 40.35 million Square Enix games were purchased in the final nine months of 2021, up from 29.45 in 2020.

In Square Enix's other business segments, amusement parks rebounded to their pre-pandemic levels, publications saw a slight increase, and merchandising sales went up by almost 50% year-over-year. Endwalker and NieR Replicant collector's editions were noted as contributors to that last segment, as well as a Tifa Lockhart figure.

You can find all the Square Enix financial data on the company's investor relations site.