Square Enix has announced a major relaunch of the company amid declining revenue.
In reporting financials for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, sales in the Digital Entertainment segment, which includes video games, rose 2.6%, but profit fell 15.8%. This despite the sales of Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, Foamstars and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Especially in HD games, the Square Enix subcategory that includes all of the above games, the company saw a significant operating loss of ¥8.1 billion (about $51.9 million).
Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth were both released as PlayStation 5 exclusives, while Square Enix there is While it has released a sales figure for Final Fantasy 16, it has yet to do so for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second game in the company’s trilogy of Final Fantasy 7 remakes. All Square Enix says in its financial report is that it suffered from “an incomplete journey toward better profitability in HD game development” and “has launched many titles, but some have met profit expectations, particularly outsourced titles and some AAA titles.” Final Fantasy looks like it. 7 Rebirth includes at least that.
In response to falling profits, Square Enix announced what it called “Square Enix Reboots and Awakens,” a three-year plan to reboot for long-term growth. This involves rethinking all parts of the business, but the highlight is the “shift to a multi-platform strategy.” With Nintendo poised to announce a Switch successor console before April 2025, watch out for the phrase “Nintendo platforms” here.
As part of this multi-platform push, Square Enix said it will “build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles related to major franchises and AAA titles, including catalog titles.” The core Final Fantasy titles offered in all of these will be PlayStation exclusives going forward, though Square Enix has yet to announce features beyond Final Fantasy 16’s upcoming launch on PC.
Square Enix said there’s also a shift from quantity to quality, and a bid to deliver “fun entertainment.” Square Enix has been accused of releasing too many Final Fantasy games in a very short amount of time, so maybe this means that the release of the main Final Fantasy games is a little further along.
All in all, it’s a tough time for Square Enix, which took on ¥22.1 billion (about $140.9 million) in what it called “content abandonment losses” ahead of today’s financial report. Square Enix did not name the titles in development that were canceled or repackaged.
Looking ahead, Trace of dawn, an expansion to the ongoing MMO Final Fantasy 14 launches in late June. There’s also Square Enix Kingdom Hearts 4The third game in the Final Fantasy remake trilogy and Dragon Quest 12 in affairs.
In February, Square Enix director and president Takashi Kiryu told analysts about it plans to create a new company structure Despite the release of Final Fantasy 16 in June, following a decline in sales in the digital entertainment business. Square Enix said The PS5 exclusive sold three million copies during the launch week. PC port works. Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said in January it may be time for a younger generation to lead the franchise and direct Final Fantasy 17.
Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or privately at wyp100@proton.me.