Square Enix Q1 earnings slip, DQIX ships 3.5M

The April-June quarter was been a busy one for Square Enix. While many game companies have been tightening their belts due to the increasingly distressing economic climate, Square Enix pulled the trigger on its acquisition of top British publishing house Eidos for £84.3 million ($138 million). The move marries under one house such franchises as Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Kingdom Hearts, and Hitman.

Reporting on its earnings results for the period, Square Enix has now revealed how that expenditure has impacted its first-quarter bottom line. For the three-month period, Square Enix saw revenues slip 1.2 percent to ¥29.4 billion ($302 million).

The Eidos spend created a pronounced profit shortfall during the quarter, however. Operating income crashed 82.8 percent to ¥594 million ($6 million). Square Enix also flipped its ¥2.9 billion ($29.7 million) income during the same period last year to a ¥1.7 billion ($17 million) loss for the April-June quarter.

Breaking out its business by segments, Square Enix said that its Games group generated sales of ¥8.5 billion ($87.7 million), a 7.2 percent year-over-year climb. However, thanks to the Eidos acquisition, the Games group generated a hefty operating loss of ¥992 million ($10.2 million), down from the ¥1,665 million ($17.1 million) profit the segment turned in during the same period a year ago.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days saw release in Japan during the quarter and led Square Enix's sales with 490,000 units. The DS title is expected to release in North America on September 29.

Though it wasn't included in the publisher's earnings results, Square Enix also provided an update on Dragon Quest IX, which has been a mainstay on the weekly Japanese sales charts since launching in July. Through August 5, Square Enix has shipped 3.5 million units of the game, with 3.39 million units having sold through as of August 2. Square Enix has not yet said whether it plans to launch the title in regions outside of Japan.