We are a few months since Square Enix gave us Final Fantasy 16 and a few months from now we getting the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake with Rebirth. However, that recent release sold well. Consequently, I have no doubt the upcoming second installment for the remake of the much-loved seventh game will sell well also. So you could be forgiven for thinking all is good with the well-known publisher.
The reality is, according to an article by IGN, very much the opposite. In fact, it looks like worrying times ahead. So since the launch of Final Fantasy 16, Square Enix has lost nearly $2 billion in value. The article then stated report has come out which doubts their ability to recover from these losses. From June to now the shares have dropped 30%. They felt the launch of Final Fantasy 16 was a positive one. Launch week alone three million copies were sold.
So Where Next For Square Enix And What Went Wrong
So firstly we have the upcoming releases of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in February. As for Final Fantasy 16, we are getting a couple of expansions and it will also make it’s debut on PC. That game may not be perfect but personally, I really enjoyed my time playing it. So how did things go wrong and put the company in this financial mess? Well for one Final Fantasy 16 couldn’t offset the poor sales from Marvel’s Avengers and Forspoken. I personally finished both of these. Avengers for me has no replay value and the multiplayer side when you tried it with friends was a complete mess. Word of mouth travels fast.
As for other issues, it doesn’t look positive. Bloomberg covered this story as well according to IGN.
The root of the problem, sources told Bloomberg, is that producers were given “full reign” over the scope and direction of projects, whose goals can shift “without warning”. The upshot of this is volatility in the quality of the final product.
Was this what harmed Avengers and Forspoken
The company has a new CEO. That’s Takashi Kiryu, who wants to focus more on bigger titles as well as requesting a complete change across the company. Like IGN says, change takes time. The question is do the company have the time needed to bring these changes into effect? We do know the Avengers title is to have all support ended later this month.
