Just Cause and Tomb Raider boost Square Enix profits

The "solid" performance of Just Cause 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider lifted Square Enix's nine-month results, boosting profit and revenue both within the Digital Entertainment division and across the entire company.

The Digital Entertainment division earned ‎¥110.1 billion ($936 million) in revenue over nine-months, up 46 per cent year-on-year. Operating profit rose 64 per cent to ‎¥23.1 billion ($196 million), with both Just Cause 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider mentioned for their positive contributions.

However, the term used in the company's earnings release was "a solid start" for both titles, not the hyperbolic language one usually sees when discussing major hits. Square Enix hasn't yet released any hard sales figures for Just Cause 3, but Microsoft has said that Rise of the Tomb Raider, an Xbox One console exclusive, sold "well over" 1 million units at the start of this month.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz last year, Square Enix's European CEO, Phil Rogers, emphasised the lifetime performance of its AAA releases when judging success. "Big games have big expectations," he said. "We know that the investments that we're making are large, and it's a job to manage that well. But we've learned from that experience, over the lifetime of a product, is that things can work out well."

Across the entire company, Square Enix earned ¥152.8 billion ($1.3 billion) in revenue, up 28.5 per cent over last year. Net profit for the period was rose 24 per cent to ‎¥13.5 billion ($115 million).

At the start of the month, Square Enix closed its cloud gaming subsidiary Shinra Technologies following an initial $15 million investment. The company said it was unable to raise enough additional funding to continue.