Square Enix raises full-year forecast after strong first half

Square Enix has raised its forecast for the current fiscal year after operating income rose 42.2% in the first half, driven by its games business.

The Japanese publisher released its results for the six months ending September 30th, 2026 on November 11th. Net sales rose 21.9% year-on-year to ¥163.2 billion, operating income reached ¥38.8 billion, and profit attributable to owners of the parent nearly tripled to ¥28.6 billion.

Square Enix now expects full-year net sales of ¥310 billion, up from its previous forecast of ¥298 billion, and operating income of ¥59 billion, up from ¥49 billion.

Games drive the growth

The Digital Entertainment segment, which covers Square Enix's games, grew sales by 33.7% to ¥97.7 billion, while its operating income rose 63.5% to ¥32.9 billion.

HD games, the company's console and PC titles, made ¥35.6 billion in sales, up from ¥24.0 billion a year earlier, and their operating income more than doubled from ¥5.0 billion to ¥13.0 billion. Square Enix credited new releases, including Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and Windows and The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, as well as stronger sales of older games.

Sales of the MMO business rose from ¥19.9 billion to ¥25.7 billion, which Square Enix put down to higher player activity after it announced the next Final Fantasy XIV expansion. Its results presentation lists that expansion, Evercold, for February 23rd, 2027. Smartphone and PC browser games brought in ¥36.3 billion, helped by Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest Smash/Grow.

Digital sales keep climbing

Square Enix sold 14.87 million units across its HD and MMO games in the half, up from 9.93 million a year earlier. Downloads made up 13.35 million of those, about 90%. In North America and Europe, downloads rose from 5.83 million to 8.19 million, while physical copies fell from 1.09 million to 1.01 million.

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John Popko

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