These Revised Financial Forecasts Aren’t Good For Square Enix

Square Enix posted a major change to their fiscal year plan. While the publisher still expects to be profitable, they slashed their net income forecast by over 90%.

Square Enix expected to bank 12 billion yen ($142 million) between April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. An announced revision projects net income of 1 billion yen ($11.9 million), a 91.7% drop from the original forecast.

Extending the free trial period for Final Fantasy XIV players plus delays of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the PlayStation 3 version of Final Fantasy XIV were key factors for the revision. Square Enix also cited "weak sales" of console games during this fiscal year. Console titles published this year include Nier, Kane & Lynch 2, and Front Mission Evolved also Activision games like Singularity, Blur, and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Sales took a hit of 18.8%, Square Enix expects to 130 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in sales, down from 160 billion ($1.9 billion).