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[Draugoth]

Square Enix says: "In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as “FINAL FANTASY XVI” and “FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH,” but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations."

Presentation Materials | Investor Relations | SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Information on Presentation Materials

t.co

​

Square Enix has admitted that profits of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 "did not meet expectations".

The comment comes from its financial results briefing held in May and finally made public today.

Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu shared the results, stating: "In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations."

 

[Punished Miku]

Finally admitted it. So many meltdowns on here about this were for nothing.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Next time don't sell your ass to Sony.

 

[FeralEcho]

Square Enix "expectations"...

should be taken with a grain of salt.I still remember their Tomb Raider insane sales expectations.

But it is sad if they actually sold poorly especially Rebirth as that's arguably one of the best games of this generation.

 

[kruis]

Fuck exclusivity contracts. SE should release ALL of their games day 1 on PC and PS.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Then the question should be what were the "expectations"? FFXVI did 3 million in 3 days as a PS5 exclusive, no benefit of the massive PS4 player base (or any other platform), if that isn't a home run I don't know what is.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Then the question should be what were the "expectations"? FFXVI did 3 million in 3 days as a PS5 exclusive, no benefit of the massive PS4 player base (or any other platform), if that isn't a home run I don't know what is.

They say sales were up 20 billion yen, so yeah, their games sold well. It’s just never enough for them.

 

[Aion002]

That's a pity. I enjoyed both a lot.

Hopefully the pc releases are successful.

 

[StueyDuck]

Classic Squeenix.

 

[Darsxx82]

SQUARE:

 

[Bboy AJ]

FAFO with keeping it off PC for years.

 

[GymWolf]

 

[Little Mac]

LTTP and playing through FFVII Remake now on PS5. The combat takes some getting used to. My favorite battle thus far was the cloud solo vr fight against Shiva. Being in control of multiple characters and atb meters is something I'm not to fond of. Wish there was a gambit system for the companions so you can just focus on managing one character. Maybe I've just not found my footing or right materia yet.

Regardless, isn't Rebirth the leading GOTY candidate atm? It's one of the reasons I'm playing Remake atm.

 

[RoboFu]

Oh FF16 sold so great huh!?

I demand apologies!!

 

[Fabieter]

What else did they release? Wasn't there also games like star ocean 2 remake and dragon quest switch games. They didn't say here they are disappointed with final fantasy. They are disappointed with the whole HD department.

 

[Magister]

Square is pissed off because they are not getting their PS1 era sales. Wake up Square, JRPGs are not a genre that sells a lot these days. I still love JRPGs though. It's sad to see, but remember that this is Square that sold Eidos because it didn't bring them "enough" profit. It is also disappointing that Square has intentions to cancel their AA game production entirely because for them games like Octopath, Visions of Mana didn't bring enough "profit". Their management is the worst and it should be replaced by someone passionate about video games instead of profit chasers.

 

[Darsxx82]

That's a pity. I enjoyed both a lot.

Hopefully the pc releases are successful.

The problem with releasing ports or new versions of a game 1-2 years later is that in that time you have already lost all the HYPE and expectation of the launch and that hype and expectation is surely already in current or future releases of other games.

Day one sales are always going to be higher than those of a port 1-2 years later.

 

[Felessan]

FF16 online is a half of FF15 on steam and for FF15 sales were 9:1 in favor to playstation
Day1 on PC would change nothing here. Some doubledippers would just pay once instead of twice

 

[Astray]

Square Enix "expectations"...

should be taken with a grain of salt.I still remember their Tomb Raider insane sales expectations.

But it is sad if they actually sold poorly especially Rebirth as that's arguably one of the best games of this generation.

Square might be one of the most mismanaged publishers out there tbh.

They need a branch review and a lot of hard decisions to get back to where they were.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Just a question of setting realistic expectations. Both games were profitable but they wanted to sell like a Dragon Quest and that's just not possible.

Square Enix needs to redefine their content strategy and that has nothing to do with exclusivities. Their games don't have mass appeal anymore. That audience has migrated to Nintendo or Mihoyo.

 

[Gaiff]

Dunno about Rebirth but FF XVI is insanely boring. Glad it underperformed. Hopefully, they go back to the drawing board and make the next game turn-based. Square really needs to stop with their mediocre take on DMC’s combat. DQ XI and BG3 are both turn-based and miles ahead of FF XVI.

 

[PauloRoberto]

Is there anything that meet Squenix expectations?! :-D I'm here it simpyl wants more money from Sony for FF VII part 3.

 

[owandeseis]

The problem with releasing ports or new versions of a game 1-2 years later is that in that time you have already lost all the HYPE and expectation of the launch and that hype and expectation is surely already in current or future releases of other games.

Day one sales are always going to be higher than those of a port 1-2 years later.

Specially when the word of mouth is bad, terrible combination

 

[Pallas]

I’m sure both games sold well but I’m guessing not good. Final fantasy doesn’t have quite the draw it once had(newer games that is), and the cost and development for AAA titles is so immense these days that it’s hard to turn a reasonably profit, especially being handcuffed to one platform and not being from a first party studio.

 

[Darsxx82]

Specially when the word of mouth is bad, terrible combination

yes, also this

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

You don't say

When neither SE nor Sony touted numbers it clearly tells that it underperformed

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Well pc release for 16 is out. So exclusivity shouldn't matter now. We shall see if PC gamers are interested

 

[ULTROS!]

Congrats guys, you got what you wished for: FF not selling well

So what do you guys want to do about this?

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

LTTP and playing through FFVII Remake now on PS5. The combat takes some getting used to. My favorite battle thus far was the cloud solo vr fight against Shiva. Being in control of multiple characters and atb meters is something I'm not to fond of. Wish there was a gambit system for the companions so you can just focus on managing one character. Maybe I've just not found my footing or right materia yet.

Regardless, isn't Rebirth the leading GOTY candidate atm? It's one of the reasons I'm playing Remake atm.

It was probably close for me but Astro Bot just blew everything else out of the water. Outright masterpiece

 

[Little Mac]

It was probably close for me but Astro Bot just blew everything else out of the water. Outright masterpiece

Astro Bot is my current GOTY as well. Platinum'd the hell out of it in like 3 or 4 days. I consider it a must buy for PS5 owners.

 

[Astray]

The problem with releasing ports or new versions of a game 1-2 years later is that in that time you have already lost all the HYPE and expectation of the launch and that hype and expectation is surely already in current or future releases of other games.

Day one sales are always going to be higher than those of a port 1-2 years later.

When you typically release a staggered PC version, you do it for margin and enhanced long-tail sales, not volume.

The caveat of this is that you need to release a well-done port, which Square has evidently not done here, in fact they have not done this in quite a few AAA games lately.

Square is an unserious company to begin with, and has a lot of structural issues with their IP and studios that require a whole thread to sift through.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Sony has been selling a ton of sweet sweet dreams to a variety of 3rd party publishers that crash and burn after game releases.

First Rise of Ronin, now this.

Sony first needs to figure out how to sell their own games without bundling. Then tell others they have a fool proof plan to take their games to next level of popularity.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Astro Bot is my current GOTY as well. Platinum'd the hell out of it in like 3 or 4 days. I consider it a must buy for PS5 owners.

I beat the final challenge last night around 2 am. Just couldn't stop till I completed it after a 9 hour play session lol

Kinda funny since Rebirth and that are kinda polar opposites in design. One trimmed all the fat while the other threw everything at the wall but I enjoy both

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Sony has been selling a ton of sweet sweet dreams to a variety of 3rd party publishers that crash and burn after game releases.

First Rise of Ronin,

lol, what?

jesus, man, check your facts before spouting stuff like this.

Rise of the Ronin has become Koei Tecmo’s fastest-selling game, director says

PS5-exclusive Rise of the Ronin is accelerating past Nioh and Nioh 2 in terms of sales, Fumihiko Yasuda confirmed.

www.si.com

And Sony doesn't promise anything. They PAY marketing and help with development, which is also money. These games are not timed-exclusives "for free".

 

[Mister Wolf]

Well pc release for 16 is out. So exclusivity shouldn't matter now. We shall see if PC gamers are interested

Wont be the same. There is nothing like day one hype for a videogame. The thrill is already gone for 16.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Sony has been selling a ton of sweet sweet dreams to a variety of 3rd party publishers that crash and burn after game releases.

First Rise of Ronin, now this.

Sony first needs to figure out how to sell their own games without bundling. Then tell others they have a fool proof plan to take their games to next level of popularity.

Honestly I would just offer to bundle a million or so units. People choose to buy the bundles so it's not like they dislike the games but you really gotta break through the noise and throw it out there a lot

 

[DenchDeckard]

If square do another deal with Sony after this they are dumb as fuck.

 

[kazuyamishima]

Sony has been selling a ton of sweet sweet dreams to a variety of 3rd party publishers that crash and burn after game releases.

First Rise of Ronin, now this.

Sony first needs to figure out how to sell their own games without bundling. Then tell others they have a fool proof plan to take their games to next level of popularity.

Ragnarok is close to 20m. now, Niche-Man 2 will get it this year, same with Helldivers 2.

But yeah, let’s bundle them to sell something.

 

[DannyDanger]

Damn.. Maybe they waited too long to remake 7. Fans were begging for yrs

 

[StereoVsn]

Square is pissed off because they are not getting their PS1 era sales. Wake up Square, JRPGs are not a genre that sells a lot these days. I still love JRPGs though. It's sad to see, but remember that this is Square that sold Eidos because it didn't bring them "enough" profit. It is also disappointing that Square has intentions to cancel their AA game production entirely because for them games like Octopath, Visions of Mana didn't bring enough "profit". Their management is the worst and it should be replaced by someone passionate about video games instead of profit chasers.

Unfortunately expenses are getting higher while sales aren’t.

I do hope they continue with smaller AA titles and games, but judiciously. Visions of Mana reportedly tanked so bad , the studio got closed .

 

[elbourreau]

If square do another deal with Sony after this they are dumb as fuck.

Squix expectations are insane since a few years, remember tomb raider 2013

 

[Elios83]

Next time don't sell your ass to Sony.

It wouldn't have changed anything.
Their problem is not pretending they lost big sales on other platforms.
That could only apply to Switch in Japan but their games can't run on Switch anyway.

Their problem is that they had a decade of fuckups, now with FF7Rebirth they're finally delivering the quality fans have been asking from the series since the PS3 days, too bad that they have lost two generations of younger gamers that simply do not give a fuck about Final Fantasy.
This is their issue.

 

[StereoVsn]

If square do another deal with Sony after this they are dumb as fuck.

Yeah, they should really be releasing on PC at same time. Not exclusive to Epic store of course, because they have pulled that shit before.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Wont be the same. There is nothing like day one hype for a videogame. The thrill is already gone for 16.

If you love games this should be irrelevant. If (when) a Gears of War Collections comes to PS5 I'll be there day 1, couldn't care less that it released years and years ago on Xbox. If PlayStation magically gets a Super Mario Galaxy collection I'm there day 1 etc etc, literally apply it to any game I have interest in. Now is the time for PC fanboys to pull up or shut up, I'm assuming you bought it?

 

[cash_longfellow]

This is what happens when you bind yourself to a single console that has only been out around 3 years

 

[BennyBlanco]

Square is pissed off because they are not getting their PS1 era sales. Wake up Square, JRPGs are not a genre that sells a lot these days. I still love JRPGs though. It's sad to see, but remember that this is Square that sold Eidos because it didn't bring them "enough" profit. It is also disappointing that Square has intentions to cancel their AA game production entirely because for them games like Octopath, Visions of Mana didn't bring enough "profit". Their management is the worst and it should be replaced by someone passionate about video games instead of profit chasers.

Would you have said the same about CRPGs before BG3 came out? If you make truly great games they will get recognized and sell well. Modern Square stinks. Their best games by far are their small projects like Octopath and Triangle Strategy.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Wont be the same. There is nothing like day one hype for a videogame. The thrill is already gone for 16.

Well hopefully PC gamers prove that wrong. If they don't support this then all Square should see is that they don't like their games I guess. Considering the hype remasters and old games get all the time it's just what it would sell there anyway

 

[Mr Hyde]

Square probably thought they would sell 20 million copies in the first 45 minutes so yeah, expectations should clearly should be in check. I love Square Enix but man, do I get tired of their constant mismanagement and poor strategies across the board.

 

[Fabieter]

If square do another deal with Sony after this they are dumb as fuck.

While they definitely should consider more open approach. Most of their multiplatform games also underperformed so its a deeper problem at sqaure enix. I like those games alot but most people these don't ain't that much into them.

 

[Gojiira]

Next time don't sell your ass to Sony.

Lol thats not the problem…Would you prefer they make a deal with Xbox?
The problem is SE’s expectations. They think FF is 20Million+ selling games. They aren’t. But no matter how much they sell SE ‘expects’ more…