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Japan's Square Enix Holdings Co Ltd said it enjoyed robust holiday sales despite a slowing economy, and the videogame maker expects its operating profit to be roughly in line with its forecast for the year to March.
The global downturn has prompted some consumers to give up purchases of big-ticket items such as cars and flat TVs, but the game industry is relatively well-shielded as people stay home and turn to low-budget entertainment.
"Demand has been generally brisk," Square Enix President Yoichi Wada told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Square Enix, known for such blockbuster titles as "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy", said last November its operating profit was likely to dip 2.4 percent to 21 billion yen ($236 million) this business year compared with the previous year.
Analysts on average expect Square Enix to post an operating profit of 27.4 billion yen, according to Reuters Estimates.
The Tokyo-based company plans to launch the latest installment of its "Dragon Quest" game series on March 28 in Japan for Nintendo Co Ltd (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people )'s wildly popular DS handheld game gear, giving itself a major sales and profitability boost.
Square Enix also plans to launch the next version of "Final Fantasy" in 2009 in Japan, further strengthening its product lineup.
Overseas launches of the latest "Final Fantasy" game will come in the business year from April 2010 or later, Wada said.
Square Enix will offer the latest version, "Final Fantasy XIII", for both Sony Corp (nyse: SNE - news - people )'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people )'s Xbox 360 in North America and Europe, and exclusively for the PS3 in Japan.
Annual earnings at video game software makers vary significantly depending on whether they launch popular titles in the year.
Square Enix has sold more than 47 million units of its Dragon Quest games and more than 85 million units of Final Fantasy titles.
more here
The global downturn has prompted some consumers to give up purchases of big-ticket items such as cars and flat TVs, but the game industry is relatively well-shielded as people stay home and turn to low-budget entertainment.
"Demand has been generally brisk," Square Enix President Yoichi Wada told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Square Enix, known for such blockbuster titles as "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy", said last November its operating profit was likely to dip 2.4 percent to 21 billion yen ($236 million) this business year compared with the previous year.
Analysts on average expect Square Enix to post an operating profit of 27.4 billion yen, according to Reuters Estimates.
The Tokyo-based company plans to launch the latest installment of its "Dragon Quest" game series on March 28 in Japan for Nintendo Co Ltd (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people )'s wildly popular DS handheld game gear, giving itself a major sales and profitability boost.
Square Enix also plans to launch the next version of "Final Fantasy" in 2009 in Japan, further strengthening its product lineup.
Overseas launches of the latest "Final Fantasy" game will come in the business year from April 2010 or later, Wada said.
Square Enix will offer the latest version, "Final Fantasy XIII", for both Sony Corp (nyse: SNE - news - people )'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people )'s Xbox 360 in North America and Europe, and exclusively for the PS3 in Japan.
Annual earnings at video game software makers vary significantly depending on whether they launch popular titles in the year.
Square Enix has sold more than 47 million units of its Dragon Quest games and more than 85 million units of Final Fantasy titles.
more here
