Square Enix AAA Game Budgets Revealed - Forspoken Cost More than FFXVI - On Average, Square AAA Games Cost +100% More than Capcom's

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Part of the massive investor report put out by the shareholders.



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How did that turd cost more than ff16

If they allocated all that budget from forspoken to ff16 it would have been a better game.
 
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Damn costing more than capcom while selling so much less.

Sucks to see for Rebirth and Remake as I do think those games are decent.

Surprised to see Forspoken costing more than FFXVI, knew it was AAA budget but didn't think it was that high especially for a crappy game.
 
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Foresposkin looking that bad while costing that much?

Shut down the western division and move back to Japan please. When the dust settles between China and Japan, consider hiring Chinese devs too.
 
MayauMiao said:
Foresposkin looking that bad while costing that much?

Shut down the western division and move back to Japan please. When the dust settles between China and Japan, consider hiring Chinese devs too.
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Forspoken was made in-house at Luminous Productions, fyi. That one can't be pinned on a Western dev.
 
DreamcastSkies said:
Is some of that difference in price due to the length of the game? Like FFVII Rebirth's length vs Resident Evil 8's length as an example.
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That's probably part of it, but all of the high quality CGI that SE does is incredibly expensive as well. A short CG video can easily cost >$100K so imagine how expensive their productions must be.

It's funny. Decades ago, Square almost went bankrupt and it was Sony that saved them. It's gonna be interesting to see who saves them now that they erroneously believe a multi-platform strategy is the solution to their business failures.
 
Is Pragmata squeezed into that tiny non AAA 14 sliver?

Edit-what do they mean in the excessive platform fees section. Physical stores?
 
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I've been saying this for years. They don't know what the fuck they're doing. Identical to Ubisoft in that area...they're just lost creatively and my guess is the c-suite execs making most of the decisions have never played a game in their life.

Squaresoft used to deliver bangers after bangers (not counting the Spirits Within movie). After the merger with Enix, that company completely fell apart.
 
This report is highly critical of Square Enix's current management and performance, contrasting it sharply with competitors like Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Konami. Based on the detailed "External Perspective" presentation dated September 29, 2025, here are the top 10 most critical takeaways.

1. Severe Financial Deterioration
Under the current management structure (President Kiryu), Square Enix has experienced a marked decline in "earning power." Operating income, Return on Equity (ROE), and margins have all stagnated or dropped. The report highlights that Square Enix is the only major industry player experiencing negative revenue growth while its profit margins remain at roughly half the level of its competitors.

2. Failure of the "Reboots" Plan
The "Medium-Term Management Plan" announced in May 2024 is heavily criticized for being vague and unambitious. The report argues that the plan lacks concrete KPIs, specific execution roadmaps, and justifies low performance under the guise of a "reboot" period, rather than offering a real strategy for growth.

3. HD Games Crisis (Quality & Sales)
The company's core "HD Games" (Console/PC) are underperforming due to three key factors:
  • Product Design Issues: Recent major titles (specifically citing Final Fantasy XVI, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Dragon Quest III Remake) and new IPs (like Forspoken) are criticized for "outdated gameplay" and poor user reception.
  • Fragmentation: The development portfolio is too scattered, preventing focused investment in core hits.
  • Declining Legacy Sales: Unlike peers, Square Enix struggles to sell its back catalog (older games), which is a key driver of high-margin revenue for competitors.
4. Massive Inefficiency in Development Spending
Square Enix's development costs are significantly higher than industry standards but yield lower returns. The report notes the company frequently incurs huge losses from "content disposal" (canceling or scrapping projects mid-development), a practice that is much rarer and smaller in scale among its peers.

5. Flawed Platform Strategy
The report attacks the exclusivity strategy for AAA titles. By limiting major releases (like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and XVI) to specific platforms (primarily PlayStation 5), the company has severely capped its potential install base. In contrast, competitors maximizing multi-platform releases (PC, Xbox, Switch, PS) see much higher unit sales.

6. Wasteful Marketing Spend
Advertising efficiency is alarmingly low. The data shows that Square Enix's Cost Per Install/Unit (CPI)—marketing spend per game sold—is approximately 7 times higher than competitors like Capcom. This suggests the company is spending exorbitant amounts to "buy" sales for titles that aren't organically resonating.

7. Dangerous Reliance on Domestic Mobile Market
The "SD Games" (Mobile/Smart Device) segment is overly dependent on a single aging title, Dragon Quest Walk, which accounts for over 60% of the segment's revenue and has already peaked. The business is almost entirely focused on the Japanese market (97% domestic), with a near-total failure to expand successful mobile games globally.

8. Missed Cross-Media Opportunities
While competitors (Nintendo, Capcom) successfully leverage their IP into movies, anime, and merchandise to drive game sales, Square Enix has failed to do so effectively. The report specifically calls out the lack of major film/anime adaptations for Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest in recent years compared to the success of Mario, Pokemon, or Sonic. (I think we know why SQEX is reticent to get back into FF films again though...)

9. Call to Divest Non-Core Businesses
The report argues that the Amusement (Arcades/Taito) and Publishing (Manga) businesses have zero synergy with the core Digital Entertainment business. It suggests these divisions are suffering from a "conglomerate discount" and should be spun off or sold to owners who can manage them better, as they currently drag down the company's overall valuation.

10. Capital Mismanagement
Management is criticized for failing to execute share buybacks despite having a ¥20 billion authorization and a plummeting stock price. The report frames this as a lack of commitment to shareholder value and a failure to take advantage of the company's undervalued status.
 
Kinda stupid a mainline FF current gen game cost less than a remake (divided into 3 parts) and a new ip that's given bare bones compared to every other game on that list.
 
ByWatterson said:
$58 million for FFXVI is insane for how good it looks and the amount of production, acting, music, etc.
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The average Japanese game developer makes like $50K, the average California game developer in the studio proper (i.e. not a paid intern or temp contract worker) makes like $150k. These budgets are actually high relative to their salaries, suggesting there's quite a bit of managerial/bureaucratic bloat and redundancies inflating costs at Japan's mega publishers. I'm sure the big AAA studios have many variations of the "empty room punishment", they probably do stupid cultural shit like like pay multiple people to do the same work and shame the ones they don't pick.
 
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They should just stick with the ff7 remake combat system for the next mainline FF. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel each game (like they have 11 onwards). Save some cash. Don't make it 100 hours. I wouldn't be bothered with a 30 hour game as long as it's quality.
 
A couple of more interesting slides from the presentation.

Square is kinda fucked.


1. Their profitability on both HD and SD (how they label AAA or AA scope games I guess) is way behind other Japanese studios. Especially the HD games.

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2. They spend more on advertising than other Japanese companies.




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3. The amount of money they spend advertising and promoting on games per unit is also way higher than the competitors, relative to per unit sold.

Forspoken is the next Spirits Within for SE, it's been an unmitigated disaster for them.


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The Shepard said:
They should just stick with the ff7 remake combat system for the next mainline FF. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel each game (like they have 11 onwards). Save some cash. Don't make it 100 hours. I wouldn't be bothered with a 30 hour game as long as it's quality.
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They ruined the Remake by splitting it into 3 games and making you play 200 hours worth of filler. They should have just 1:1 the original with modern day graphics, voice work, and cutscenes, but in their infinite greed they assumed they'd get huge sales and $240 a customer. How'd that work out?
 
HD-2D production seems to be running at full speed, and honestly it looks like one of Square Enix's best strategies right now. The costs are much lower and the budget-to-profit ratio is clearly better, especially with the recent Dragon Quest remakes.

Meanwhile, their big AAA projects are turning into huge financial risks, FFXVI being a good example. HD-2D hits a great balance between nostalgia, modern visuals, controlled budgets, and reliable sales. Focusing more on that instead of constantly chasing massive AAA blockbusters just makes more sense.
 
Imagine spending that much money on forspoken and your protagonist is an insufferable gen z newyorker that can't even pass for a play arts kai figure holy shit the level of incompetence.
 
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Do we really need a second thread?

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Business  Thread 'Square Enix’s major shareholder drops 100-page presentation criticizing how the company is managed, rallies other shareholders'

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3D Investment Partners, a Singapore-based activist investment fund, has published a 100-page presentation highlighting issues in Square Enix's management (as reported by BusinessWire). As a major shareholder of the game company (owning a 14.36% stake), 3D Investment is calling on other shareholders to join them in "sharing frank opinions" on Square Enix's ongoing issues. Their purpose is to "pursue constructive dialogue" with the company's leadership.

Given that 3D Investment...
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  • Like
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Also, don't ever listen to activist investors. Their agenda is to push a company to M&A and short the stock on the news.
 
Haven't really enjoyed a new SE game outside of DQ since FFXII.

Talking about DQ - guess we won't get any updates/news of XII until after the VII remake releases. 😔


Edit:

Some exceptions:

Nier: Automata - great fucking game. Not developed by SE, but still, anyone involved should be praised.

Triangle Strategy - still in my backlog but can't imagine this won't be winner as it's my kind of jam.

And lastly I have Bravely Default lined up on my DS device, so that might make the list after I've played it.
 
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Man, they really bet big on Forspoken. They honestly thought this would be their breakout new AAA IP.

One of the great flops of this generation. Up there with Concord, Veilguard, Suicide Squad, and Redfall.
 
The Shepard said:
They should just stick with the ff7 remake combat system for the next mainline FF. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel each game (like they have 11 onwards). Save some cash. Don't make it 100 hours. I wouldn't be bothered with a 30 hour game as long as it's quality.
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A big NO.

And this is coming from someone that thinks FFR/R is the absolute best rpg combat system ever made.

Square is always doing something new and revolutionary (at the very least fresh and addictive) in their FF games, even if the previous already had a ground breaking system in place, and this is why they deserve all the praise.
I don't want new FF games to become some shitty Chinese knock off of older entries.
 
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