Square Enix bumps financial forecast due to Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn sales

Square Enix revised its financial outlook for the current fiscal period due to Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn exceeding sales expectations, with more than 1.5 million players registering accounts in the MMO since its launch in August, the company announced today.

The original forecast for the six month period ending on Sept. 30, 2013 included estimated net sales between 59 billion yen ($598 million) and 63 billion yen ($639 million). A Realm Reborn's success has bumped the lower-end estimate up to 61.7 billion yen ($626 million).

Square Enix previously anticipated a 2 billion yen ($20 million) operating loss, but now expects a 4.7 billion yen ($47 million) operating profit.

The revision to the recent financial forecast was also attributed to ongoing company-wide efforts to reduce costs, which have included several rounds of layoffs in the past year. Square Enix chose not to revise its forecast for the full year ending March 2014, however, "mainly due to the uncertainties in the second half of the fiscal year."

Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn launched on Aug. 27 for PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. The game will launch in beta for PlayStation 4 on Feb. 22.