Square Enix Profit Doubles

Japanese video game publisher Square Enix--which is behind franchises like Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider--on Wednesday announced sales results for the nine-month period ended December 31, showing year-over-year gains for total revenue and profit

Revenue was ¥118 billion ($1 billion), up 16 percent compared to last year when company posted ¥102 billion ($870 million) in sales. Profit also showed year-on-year gains, more than doubling from ¥5.2 billion ($44.4 million) last year to ¥10.9 billion ($92.9 million) this year.

Meanwhile, Square Enix's game-specific division, called Digital Entertainment, posted revenue of ¥75 billion ($639.6 million), up 33.4 percent year-over-year. Operating income also jumped, rising 107.6 percent to ¥14 billion ($119.4 million).

Square Enix called out smartphone and PC games such as Sengoku IXA and Dragon Quest Monsters Super Light as games that "continued to show strong performance." Meanwhile, other smartphone games such as Schoolgirl Strikers, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, and Kai-ri-Sei Million Arthur also were meaningful contributors to Square Enix's bottom line.

In the home console space, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX sold well, and catalog sales were also "strong," Square Enix said. Meanwhile, the publisher added that Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X are "making favorable progress."