Mixi (TYO:2121) has released its financials for its Q3 FY17 for the three months ending December 31st 2016.

It posted net sales of $495.6 million for the quarter, up 2.5% year-on-year. Its profits were also up 2.4% year-on-year to $140.6 million.

Its entertainment segment, which includes its mobile games, posted sales of $1.16 billion for the first nine months of the FY17, down 6.1% year-on-year.

Monsters everywhere

Looking closer, Mixi identified its numerous cross-media promotions of flagship title Monster Strike as its reason for continued stability. An anime and movie have been released based on the IP and Mixi continues to run large-scale events in-game.

It's all part of plans to increase spending from Monster Strike's core Japanese players.

Looking ahead, the publisher will be partnering with Square Enix to bring a Final Fantasy and Monster Strike cross-over event to the game in Q4. It will also be opening its own XFLAG merchandise store in Shibuya in May 2017.

Monster Strike is now very close to achieving 40 million downloads since launching in October 2013. Mixi's Disney-licensed title Marvel Tsum Tsum, mentioned in its last quarterly financials, was not discussed in its Q3 report.