'Oligopolistic' console business blamed for Square Enix losses

As Square Enix posts a swing to significant losses for the last fiscal year, the company has blamed the "increasingly competitive and oligopolistic" console game markets in North America and Europe, saying that the space is too highly-influenced by a small number of companies. The Japanese publisher has been forced to implement major changes to its business following what it describes as "environmental changes in the game industry," as the industry shifts away from console games and into the mobile market. Square Enix says its consumer game releases for the last fiscal year greatly underperformed. Sleeping Dogs managed sales of 1.75 million worldwide, Tomb Raider sold 3.4 million copies, and Hitman: Absolution sold 3.6 million units. In comparison, its smartphone and browser games found success in both the Japanese and the Korean market. Social titles like Sengoku Ixa, Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur and Final Fantasy Brigade are continously contributing profits, said the company. It wasn't just Square Enix's console games business that took a nose-dive, as its arcade game machines sector also saw a notable swing to operating losses from healthy profits year-over-year. As a result of the current restructuring efforts, Square Enix has recorded "extraordinary loss" in a bid to turn its business around, as reported previously. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, Square Enix's digital entertainment sector posted revenue of 89.5 billion yen ($880.1 million), up 24.5 percent year-over-year, and operating income of 44 million yen ($433,000), down a notable 99.7 percent year-over-year. Overall, the company recorded revenue of 148.0 billion yen ($1.5 billion), up 15.7 percent year-over-year, and losses of 13.7 billion yen ($134.9 million), compared to profits of 6.1 billion yen ($59.6 million) year-over-year.