Net sales and operating income in Square Enix's game-focused Digital Entertainment arm increased year-on-year thanks to growing digital sales and "brisk" sales of catalog titles in the HD Games sub-segment. 

According to the company's financials for the full-year ended March 31, 2021, those factors helped drive net sales in the segment to 263.9 billion yen ($2.4 billion), an increase of 39.9 percent year-on-year, while operating income also rose by 42.9 percent to 50.5 billion yen ($460.9 million).

Square Enix indicated that upswing was also the result of burgeoning licensing income and new releases like Final Fantasy VII Remake, and noted that its Smart Device/PC Browser sub-segment played its part thanks to "solid performances" from titles like Dragon Quest Walk and War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

The Japanese publisher added that "recurring revenue was solid" in its MMO sub-segment, despite net sales falling year-on-year due to a lack of new expansion packs for Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X. 

Across the entire segment, combined sales of packaged and digital software totaled 49.9 million units, up on the 33.42 million units Square Enix sold during FY2020 -- with digital sales accounting for 39.6 million of that total.

Overall, Square Enix's consolidated net sales increased by 27.6 percent year-on-year to 332.5 billion yen ($3.03 billion), while profits rose by 26.2 percent to 26.9 billion yen ($245.5 million). 

Looking ahead to the end of the next fiscal year on March 31, 2022, the company is forecasting net sales of 340 billion yen ($3.1 billion) and profits of 24 billion yen ($219 million).