Deus Ex, FFXIII-2 push Square Enix to profit

Japanese publisher cites major new releases as significant contributors to the company's increased net sales and profits for 2011.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Final Fantasy XIII-2 helped publisher Square Enix swing to profit for fiscal 2011, the company announced today. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, the company's Digital Entertainment business (which houses the firm's gaming endeavors) saw net sales surge 11.9 percent to ¥71.9 billion ($897.5 million) while operating income jumped up 11.7 percent to ¥12.6 billion ($157.3 million).

Square Enix did not offer specific sales figures for either game, but after shipping in August 2011, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was the top-selling game of the month and went on to ship 2 million units. Final Fantasy XIII-2 launched in North America on the last day of January and was February's second-best-selling title, beat out only by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

In total, Square Enix reported full-year net sales of ¥127.9 billion ($1.6 billion), up 2.1 percent year-over-year. Profits for the period came in at ¥6.1 billion ($76.1 million), up significantly from the ¥12 billion ($150 million) in losses tallied the year prior.

Square Enix also today delayed Crystal Dynamics' upcoming Tomb Raider reboot from a fall release to the first quarter of 2013. Of the delay, studio head Darrell Gallagher said, "I guarantee it will be worth the wait."

Making predictions about its current fiscal year, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada said the company will focus on improving the quality of its online games, which will in part lead the firm to improved earnings by the end of the year.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

87 comments
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Frost259
Frost259

Deus Ex was a huge suprise hit for me and one of the best games I played last year, and I still say FF needs to return to the drawing bored, seriously though those games are crashing hard, someone needs to try and figure it out.

iPostMaReviews
iPostMaReviews like.author.displayName 1 Like

One is a good game, the other is a joke. :P

NAWAF005
NAWAF005 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Good job SE.

Now finished Versus already!

 

VenPlayer
VenPlayer

That's some good news.. Need another deus-ex title.... And still waiting for versus... Just don't go n waste money for nothing...

tizmond
tizmond like.author.displayName 1 Like

Good news. I really hope this means more Deus Ex. It was gone for TOO long ! I enjoyed Human Revolution. It was a real throwback to the original game and I was pleasantly surprised that it was so good.The devs now have a solid foundation to build on for future games in the series. I'd really like to see a direct sequel to the original games, rather than another prequel, or spin-off for the next game though.

Serpentes420
Serpentes420

Glad to hear it...now make more Deus Ex games :D

 

And to those complaining about the ending....its pretty much how Deus Ex Machina ended too.  You get 3 choices at the end and you can see all 3.  If you don't want to do it the "cheap" way no one is forcing you to

ArkhamSaint
ArkhamSaint

Congrats Square Enix, I wouldn't mind if you announced Deus Ex 4 or a Deus Ex HD Collection.

wwlettsome
wwlettsome

Great, now hope they are already using that money to work on the next Deus Ex title.

swamptick
swamptick

Deus Ex was completely awesome. I'm glad S-E is finally getting back on track.

 

Maleek2K8
Maleek2K8

Europe wants more Deus Ex titles Square!

Crossel777
Crossel777

It looks like future FF titles are going to be all about DLC milkage now.. Just great.  Kiss goodbye to optional content on the disc.

chyng85
chyng85

Hope more great games to be published~!

Pete5506
Pete5506 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Its been six years now SE, still waiting on Versus 

Vozlov
Vozlov like.author.displayName 1 Like

This is awesome news. Another Deus Ex prequal has to be on the way now.

Even though the ending did suck and was clearly rushed, it is easily one of the, if not the best RPG/FPS mixes to come out in recent years.

G1Ga-B1T3
G1Ga-B1T3

I loved DX HR. It is right up at #2 on my all time favorites right behind DX at #1 :) All bias aside that is. I really hope Eidos Montreal, releases a director's cut and switches up the boss fights a little bit and includes all missing content that was supposed to be there the first go round. I would pay upwards of ..... $120???? Would have to have the missing hubs and their subsequent missions too, don't get all skimp on me here and pull an EA...... ;)

ziproy
ziproy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Deus Ex was great right up until the very end, which was a HUGE disappointment. Overall it was a great game though, I loved sneaking around  

Psycold
Psycold

 @ziproy Totally agree, I was massively let down by the ending. After all that work, you end up in the same room with a bunch of buttons, and you can just hit save and go back and try the different endings instead of actually working for them...made the whole experience feel cheap. Especially compared to its much older predecessor. If the rest of the game sucked, then it wouldn't matter but the game was actually good before that. 

joeborg14
joeborg14

Good news for Square and game industry!

txgamerwavg
txgamerwavg

I love both of them, but the new games on Nintendo 3DS in July hope those games be GREAT. :)

twztid13
twztid13

I loved FFXIII, and can't wait to play the 2nd (even though I hear the ending is just a - to be continued. Maybe I can wait). I own Deus Ex:HR on ps3 & on PC (the DLC on both, too), but haven't finished it on either :(.

noclue_27
noclue_27 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is certainly one of the best games of 2011. Never played FFXIII-2 though, not after the problems that plagued FFXIII.

 

Still, it's good to hear Deus Ex: HR sold well, it certainly deserved to.

The_Bones
The_Bones like.author.displayName 1 Like

I can't believe how many suckers actually bought FFXIII-2 after how terrible the original was.  It making a profit is just going to encourage them to make another horrible sequel to it.

bakagami
bakagami

 @The_Bones that's because XIII-2 was actually pretty good.  I hated the first one too but you can't judge a game by the merits of its prequel,  XIII-2 is very different than XIII

The_Bones
The_Bones

 @bakagami Not different enough in my opinion.  I never wanted a sequel out of FFXIII as there was almost nothing I liked about it.

The_Bones
The_Bones

 @rice2555Name alone can sell stuff sometimes.  Look at RE Operation Raccoon City.  It got rather mediocre review scores and was filled with flaws yet it still sold well because its Resident Evil.  My opinion on FFXIII and its sequel will never change and I know there are others who share my opinion.   

rice2555
rice2555 like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @The_Bones obviously your opinion is quite the minority considering the sales number. you shouldnt make such bold opinionated claims when the obvious evidence is directly above your post. your entitled to your opinion, but you should stay away from making other feel bad about their own, especially because you have little supporting evidence, and it makes you sound like a bitter fool.

HAZCHEM88
HAZCHEM88

DX:HR was brilliant. Was my game of 2011. Can't wait for another.

masterdrat
masterdrat

So that means they have enough money to reimburse me for the collection edition of ffxiv.

hadlee73
hadlee73 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Loved DX:HR. Sooooo... when's the next one in the series then? :P

NightmareP3
NightmareP3

I'm glad HR sold so much, it's a great game. Yeah it isn't as complex as the first game but it's still more complex then most FPS/RPG hybrids we get nowaday. Hmmmm, speaking of Deus Ex : HR, i think it's time to continue my 2nd playthru on hard difficulty.

suture
suture like.author.displayName 1 Like

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is pure rpg awesomeness!

/care about deux ex, boring shooter like hundreds around with some cool stuff do spice things up.

 

billlabowski
billlabowski like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

 @suture You obviously didn't play it, stop trolling. You have no idea what you're talking about.

suture
suture

 @billlabowski ofc not refering to the online FF's those ones officially never existed (like matrix 2 and 3 ) :P

suture
suture

 @billlabowski yep i did, too boring imo,I just dont like that kind of games.Same way some ppl dont like FF's, happens. 

makryu
makryu

DX:HR was a fantastic experience. I was sad to see it mostly ignored by the year awards, it deserved so much more...

hemoleech
hemoleech

FFXIV must have really put them in the red. It's good to see their new games are doing better.

bakagami
bakagami

 @hemoleech yeah, that was a train wreck.  I picked up a copy on Ebay for $3 when it was free subscription, I still didn't get my money's worth

rgrambo
rgrambo like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Make fun games + Respect your customer = Profit.

bakagami
bakagami

 @rgrambo are you sure we're talking about the same Square-Enix?  maybe you are referring to one from an alternate universe where they don't suck most of the time

xsa
xsa

To all those talking about a remake of Deus Ex: We don't need one. Just before Deus Ex HR was released, I played through Deus Ex and Deus Ex 2, they are way good enough as they are. There even exists mods that enhance the games without ruining them.

I would much rather see a new Deus Ex game, after HR, that expands upon the HR-game. A bit mroe open ended world, even harsher consequences(and rewards) for choices you make, more difficult stealth mechanics and proper boss fights where boss fights should be possible to play through by playing to your strengths.

Oh, and another thing about boss fights. You might think the boss fights in this game are kind of pace-breaking, you should check out Alpha Protocol. You pretty much fuck up your whole savegame if you play on a higher difficulty and only specialize in stealth/CQC/hacking. You'll die too easy and deal 0 damage to bosses and you'll get facerolled.

MJ12-Conspiracy
MJ12-Conspiracy like.author.displayName 1 Like

Deus Ex Human Revolution was awesome, I didn't like how they handled the bosses but everything else was really cool. I picked the game up day one......

Crossel777
Crossel777 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

I really want another Deus Ex game after playing HR.. Amazing game.  FFXIII-2 I couldn't care less about though.

sandbox001
sandbox001 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

deus ex Hr was good,but nothing cant compare to the art of first deus ex,REMAKE OF DEUS EX ORGINAL WOULD BE SUCH WONDERFUL THING

GIXX3R
GIXX3R

Deus Ex HR was hands down my favorite game of 2011 followed closely by Witcher 2. Excellent story, setting, gameplay, etc. Bosses were OK, but what can one expect when they were outsourced? Missing Link fixed this issue.

CptRexKramer
CptRexKramer

I second Mr  Robert Bowens comments below.  I loved Deus Ex, and hope a sequal is forthcoming.  Congrats to Square Enix, and keep up the good work.

rpg-god
rpg-god

its nice to see one of my top 5 developers doing good but i wanna no wats up with FINALFANTASY VS13????????

RobertBowen
RobertBowen like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Great to see them doing well.  I'm definitely looking forward to the next Deus Ex game...and also hoping they do something great for the next Thief game.

pidow
pidow like.author.displayName 1 Like

Deus Ex was an excellent game....I still play it from time to time, excellent game.

UltimateStar
UltimateStar like.author.displayName 1 Like

with the release of versus their profit will be even higher

keech
keech

"The company will focus on improving the quality of its online games"

 

That's code for "We're STILL trying to fix Final Fantasy XIV a year and a half after we released it."

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