Square Enix has released its latest earnings report, and unfortunately, those still wating on official sales numbers for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will be left disappointed. The sequel's commercial success remains shrouded in mystery while the publisher reveals a year-on-year decline for game sales over the most recent quarter.
That 18.4% decline doesn't come as a huge surprise, though. This time last year, we were just a month or so removed from the launch of Final Fantasy 16, and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters had hit PS4 in April. Even if Rebirth had turned out to be a sales titan, Square Enix still wouldn't have expected it to make up the difference months after its release.
To be fair, the publisher probably won't be too concerned with this sales dip anyway, as it still managed to record a profit. However, this is largely attributed to the company's rather aggressive restructuring, which saw it cut a whole bunch of in-development projects loose, worth around £112 million.
And of course, of you can always rely on Final Fantasy 14. Even though this report doesn't take the latest expansion, Dawntrail, into account, the eternally popular MMO still enjoyed an increase in both sales and profit year-on-year. Presumably, this growth was down to the impending launch of the aforementioned expansion.
Overall, then, Square Enix is looking a little healthier — but there's probably going to be some additional pressure on its next big release.
What do you think the near future looks like for Square Enix? As always, become an armchair analyst in the comments section below.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 55
"Even if Rebirth had turned out to be a sales titan, Square Enix still wouldn't have expected it to make up the difference months after its release."
What company are you paying attention to? These are the maniacs who have the view 20m or bust.
Well when you turn one of the most beloved games of all time into multiverse fanfiction that p****d off half the fanbase no surprise you'll sell less copies 😅. I imagine part 3 will probably decline even more given that they doubled down on the BS in Rebirth
I think Square making so many Switch exclusives that have flopped probably has gone into their losses more then FF7 Rebirth. If anything the FF franchise has been propping up their finances.
I think the fact that it's a three part seriously affected its sales. I know I'm waiting for the complete edition, whenever it comes out.
@Keyblade-Dan Is it still fanfiction when it's made by the original developers? Doesn't really make sense given the context. Besides don't you like KH? Thought the stuff happening in Rebirth would totally be your jam.
I think though that people are missing the point as to why all this timebending stuff is happening in the story at all in the first place. It only exists to give each part an actual final boss. Fighting the robot on the bridge would've been incredibly boring for part 1 and Jenova at the end of part 2 would also have been lackluster without Time Sephiroth spicing it up a bit.
Surely it's time for Sony to swoop in and buy them on the cheap while their floundering
@Bettyswollocks maybe Sony is still sitting on a good enough of cash for acquisitions.
I wonder when the will announce the inevitable PC port, as far as I know the PS5 exclusivity only lasted til end of May
In general, if a company isn't announcing the numbers, it's because those numbers aren't flattering to them.
Flooding the market with smaller releases and making major games exclusive to whoever is willing to throw money at them clearly wasn't working for them, given how drastically their business plans appear to be changing.
Hopefully that extends to the PC space as well, and major releases are no longer held captive on EGS.
That's worrying about the 3rd installment with numbers like that, although that's only one platform sales, and as we know, Square is now lamenting the whole single platform approach and changing it going forward. Being able to release part 3 being, both the FINAL installment rather than a middle entry awaiting the real conclusion, and being able to (hopefully) release on multiple platforms should make it much easier to budget for the conclusion. Depending on how Sony's contract on the first 2 reads.
At this point now that I'm going PC for 3rd party, Square's switching to multiplat finally, I'm certainly awaiting Rebirth, and the conclusion on PC. And probably Steam, not Epic, as they like to do, as I did already rebuy part 1 there.
OTOH it must needs be said, full glad am I to hear XIV doing so well!
@AdamNovice Still seems amazing to me that Square-Enix exclusives on Switch would actually flop. Even when they usually have "official" Nintendo marketing behind it. People usually eat up anything Nintendo markets officially.
@Bettyswollocks Are they floundering? I think FFXIV is making an absolute killing. They had some underperforming games but they are still making a ton of money.
@NEStalgia I do feel obliged to mention that Octopath 1 sold better as a "Switch exclusive" with Nintendo marketing than the sequel did as a multiplat.
I know Live-A-Live didn't sell amazingly well, but otherwise I'd be curious to hear what major Switch exclusives have flopped. Wouldn't surprise me if some of their various remasters and collections did, but then, those don't seem to perform well on competing platforms, either.
@NEStalgia that's not true. Nintendos success in software is almost completely first party software. Third party support while better than before (especially for indies) is still not very strong. They recently hired a former Playstation man to help them get more third party support.
@Cloud39472 I guess "true fans" never like to be challenged in any way and are happy with a lazy redo. It's so annoying how unimaginative some "fans" like to dictate Devs how to do things.
Thanks to that sort of fandom and Disney having no backbone, the MCU and star wars are in the creatively desolate and toothless state they currently in.
SquareEnix should stay true to themselves.
Stuff like foamstars won't have helped, which by all accounts doesn't seem to have performed well.
Ff7 rebirth is an interesting one. Square have to have know sales would be lower on PS5 given the install base vs PS4, and the relative impact that covid had on increased game sales. Plus with Sony's financial backing, I think the doom and gloom around the game's performance is probably overstated.
I finally finished Rebirth on Thursday and certainly there are issues with the game. Some of the boss battles were questionable imo, and certain elements of the game problematic (too much bloat detracted from the story), to the point it won't be my GOTY sadly. But it's still a fantastic game and it's clear to see how much hard work went into it and i am very much looking forward to seeing how the trilogy wraps things up in this slightly alternative reality.
As for what's next, I just can't wait for FF9 remake to be announced. I hope it gets the care and attention it deserves to do it justice
Regarding the sales of Rebirth I'm not surprised.
Releasing in a crowded JRPG schedule fighting for the same group of players is bound to hurt it. Especially with Squares inflated judgment of sales success.
It doesn't help that they're comparing a pandemic launch at the end of the console lifecycle to a mid gen console within a time of economic messes and high inflation.
The extremely high budget and divisive nature of the game doesn't help either. Most people would wait for the third game to buy the triplet package if they were smart too.
Square going aggressively multiplatform won't give them the success they hope for until they reduce budgets heavily. The PC market mostly buys games on sale/cheaper based of basic reading and research, the Switch 2 could have potential but I don't honestly see it being more than another mil or 2 units.
It’s called Final Fantasy fatigue Square Enix.
@AdamNovice Those Switch exclusives didn’t cost even a fraction of what FF7 Rebirth did, and the game currently sustaining Square is FF14, if Rebirth was a runaway success we would have found out months ago, but the fact that half a year later they refuse to share sales figures it says everything tbh.
Easy fix… just give us a NieR sequel and all will be okay Square Enix! Simple
@Keyblade-Dan A one on one remake would have sold way better. This takes way to long it's losing weight and interest. How long is this remake already being made just finish it up. I have not bought the game because it takes so long I'll just get the complete package in the end.
@IOI Is it just me or does it just take to long. This should have been finished years ago and there should have been a complete edition on the PS5. For me they are ruining the story and characters they made cloud a joke with the dress up nonsense going to the beach bull is also a waste. They just ruined a legendary Final Fantasy such a waste.
I really hope Rebirth gets some GotY nods this year. Thus far in the year, it’s had no competition (in my opinion, I know some may disagree) and it doesn’t look like there will be much to fight it in the coming months, though the release slate does look solid for the rest of the year. As the massive epic that it is, I do think it deserves praise and recognition and hopefully the sales to ensure the ending of the trilogy is suitably ludicrously budgeted to be the biggest spectacle yet in the series.
@somnambulance I think Metaphor and ASTRO stand a good chance. Otherwise I think Balatro is it's biggest competition this year so far.
Not sure why its Rebirth. How many switch exclusives have they done that probably did not sell
@breakneck There's some truth in that but it's also more complicated. Nintendo PROMOTED games like a lot of the Square stuff (Octopath, Bravely, Havestella, Live a Live, DQ remasters, etc) typically sell as if first party. Part of their first party boost is because of the "second console" phenomenon with gamers on other platforms just for those exclusives (IMO the "exclusives" thing is a double edge sword as it nets a lot of customers who aren't very profitable as they only buy the low margin products when 3rd party is the profit engine and always has been), and finally Japan itself is a big boost to that statistic, where in Japan the "Nintendo customers only buy Nintendo games" remains a very true stereotype moreso than everywhere else, but, of course, such a huge chunk of Nintendo's market is Japan.
@Ralizah Octopath 1 is kind of a different era of gaming. That was launch Switch hyped, with the official reveals and all, was one of those scarce launch window/first year games at least in terms of the demo dropping, and the industry itself was so different back then a full generation ago now, really. I don't think that's a game that's really part of the "modern" conversation.
As for OT2, it was a multiplat launch but also got Nintendo promotion. But without that switch launch hype, and with a portion of the audience that was hyped for OT1, and more importantly a ton more competition on all platforms rather than being a near-exclusive on Switch during the early dry window, but was found disappointed in it enough to forestall OT2 purchase (eventually I did cave and bought it anyway, on Steam, a week before it dropped on Game Pass lol.....) it's not surprising it underperformed.
Live A Live is a travesty though. IMO that's a far better game than either Octopath, and it's just sinful that it didn't do better. Not putting it on sales, basically, ever, probably didn't do it wonders, though it did start at a lower price. I waited for years for sales before finally caving and buying, again, on Steam.
@NEStalgia I don't disagree with that framing. What I am saying is that Switch exclusivity doesn't seem to hurt sales of these games. Triangle Strategy sold around 800,000 copies in two weeks on Switch, for example, which is not bad for a $60 pixel art strategy game.
Even with the multiplats, probably 70%+ of their console sales tend to be on Switch, as with Octopath 2.
That said, I think a move away from exclusivity is a good thing overall. Especially if it liberates modern Final Fantasy games from a platform where people aren't really buying them in large numbers.
I still need to play Live-A-Live. I actually bought it on Switch, but, as with many games in my backlog, I never actually started it. I'd probably buy it on Steam today, considering it probably runs better on my Steam Deck, but I'm sure it'll still look gorgeous on the SWOLED.
@Flaming_Kaiser You're complaining that it's taking too long and that they ruined it but you're going to buy it when a "complete edition" comes out? Just save your money and time and just let it go maybe?
@tameshiyaku Yeah, it's annoying too because a lot of it just comes down to entitlement. These are the original creators but fans seem to think that they deserve input in the creative process or think they know better.
I'm glad that they decided to take risks and expand the story and characters because so far (imo) they've been knocking it out of the park and I'm sure part 3 is going to be phenomenal.
@Ralizah But Square estimated Triangle Strategy would sell 12 million in one week!
But, yeah, I think the pixel art type games in particular have had a lot of Nintendo promotion directly, and the format of retro-tastic game for better or worse seems to click mostly with the Nintendo and PC markets where the "young" (lol?) PS and XB markets are largely not in that demographic anymore. I suspect there's more PS1 fans that are PC/Nintendo customers than are PS customers at this point.
And, yeah, I'm absolutely giddy about the move away from ridiculous exclusivity. Even if majority sales come from a particular platform, segmenting Squeenix games as though their whole market, which, let's face it, is gamers from the 80s and 90's, is in one place just made no sense. Especially as consoles shrink overall.
LOL, I still have yet to finish Live A Live myself, but there's not a single moment of it that I haven't loved (ok, it's an SNES game and some obtuse SNES era shenanigans exist, but it's still delightful at every moment.) It's "easy", especially compared to the often brutal Octopath, but I feel like octopath is the inferior streamlined modern spinoff. (Ok, what I've played of OT2 so far is leagues better than OT1 that I ended up hating after being so hyped from the demo I bought the popup book edition.)
Live A Live runs 80-140fps on my Ally non-extreme, so, yeah, performance wise it's so potato proof I bet it even runs on Switch! In contrast OT2 runs at like 40-55 fps, but that game is gorgeous.
I have OT2, Triangle Strategy, and Live A Live all partially started, so I have a loooooong road ahead to get through the HD2D games.....and that's before the DQ games arrive.
Edit: IDK what non-OLED Deck's screen is like, but honestly, TBH, I never really get "wowed" by my SWOLED's screen. The main reason for moving to it for me was the slightly BIGGER screen and the fact that launch Switch's screen was simply BAD, it was like a screen from 10 years prior, so that any other screen would look good. But next to Ally or Legion, or even my G Cloud, the SWOLED screen doesn't stand out to me unless I stick it side by side. OLED is nice, but it's not like a good LCD is substantially inferior unless we're talking exotic high end TV panels. Unless Decks' screen is as bad as OG Switch's, in which case, yeah, avert your eyes.
For a JRPG anything between 3-5 million is now counted as a success, and that goes for the big games like Dragon Quest, Persona, Yakuza and Final Fantasy.
@NEStalgia I do think the old-school simplicity of the Switch ecosystem probably appeals to a lot of older Japanese console gaming fans, including myself. Meanwhile, Sony cultivated an audience that mostly seems to want AAA blockbusters (before unsuccessfully attempting to pivot to service games lmfao), and Xbox owners are largely averse to buying much of anything. Steam and Switch are both really friendly ecosystems to smaller games, comparatively, and I expect that to persist into the future.
Nice. I have heard from many people that OT2 is a substantial improvement over the first game. Pity the original seems to have scared so much of its audience away. I'll probably just start with the second one (never played the original on Switch, weirdly enough, despite owning pretty much all the other major HD-2D releases). Someday. No idea when, because my backlog is vast and endless.
Triangle Strategy is so good, dude! I replayed it immediately after beating it the first time, and I never do that. I bet it looks way nicer on the handheld PCs.
tbh I was skeptical of the Switch OLED model for a long time, but seeing was believing for me when I got one second-hand. OLED screens make a huge difference in a lot of games for me. Dark Souls Remastered was pretty much entirely transformed on the SWOLED vs the original panel, for example. Any game with a lot of shadow or a lot of vibrant colors is going to look way nicer on it. It's even more pronounced with the display set to 'vibrant,' since it makes colors pop, sometimes to a ridiculous degree.
Granted, my experience with the Vita helped to sell me as well. Games looked way more vibrant on the original model than on the revision.
I didn't think the size difference would matter that much, but it really did feel HUGE coming from the OG and Lite models.
I'm not as wowed by my OLED handhelds anymore now that I'm used to them. They've made my non-OLED handhelds much harder to go back to, though. I picked up my nephew's LCD Switch at one point and found myself thinking: "How did I ever play on this thing?"
There's a reason Valve almost immediately copied the thing for their hardware revision. Even down to more efficient power usage that dramatically boosts battery life.
Less than 35% of players (on PS4) completed the final chapter of Remake, according to the trophy data, so unless those that didn't finish it want to skip the rest of the story and go straight to Rebirth I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't selling as well.
There's probably more people like me about who are waiting for them to complete the remake in its entirety before they jump in too.
@Cloud39472 I'm sure part 3 will be great as well, but square needs resounding support (both financially and moral) instead of this entitled crap a loud part of the community dish up. If there are certain game elements that people feel strongly need improvement, they should go to the SquareEnix socials and provide constructive criticism. But if one can't handle not having things their way then just replay the original.
@Ralizah Yeah, I actually resisted buying OT2 for so long because of the bitter taste of the first. I was massively hyped for the first game, and doubly after playing the demo. But where the demo led one to expect a grand adventure like FF, DQ, Chrono, etc was in store...instead it became a SaGa like damage sponge boss battle rush with ohko AoE attacks with some grinding areas in between. Mostly just going to each new set piece to talk to 6 people, then walk in a circle grinding in 2 fields/corridors, then spending 45 minutes on obnoxious bosses that never die. Rinse and repeat each town. Then do it all again for layer 2 and layer 3 of the same towns. I was so let down by that game, I didn't intend to come back to the sequel. I haven't played very far into the sequel but what I have played so far definitely seems like an upgrade and more of an adventure though. I think a lot of people probably got turned off the second by the first.
It has its fans, but I'm absolutely not one of them. One of my biggest gaming disappointments.
I started Triangle strategy, but I think I'm actually less far into it on handheld PC than I was in the demo on Switch. I have to be in the right mindset for a TRPG, and I seemingly never am (especially when I have so many OTHER games in said backlog) but I do love what I've seen of it so far! It actually doesn't look that great on the PCs, it's easily the worst looking HD2D game so far other than maybe OT1. It's definitely limited to looking like it's made for Switch no matter what. Live a Live and OT2 are miles ahead of it, visually. My issue with TRPGs is it takes me FOREVER to play them, I sit there overthinking every single move so finishing one level takes like 4 hours.
As for SWOLED, while I do love OLED displays in general, I think the difference between a quality LCD screen (Ally, Legion) and an OLED isn't really a big chasm. Sure it's a little nicer, but it's not night and day. The main difference is just that OG Switch has one of the poorest quality screens I've ever seen. It was a downgrade from the New 3DS screens. It's dim, it's gray, and it's hazy. (I still use my OG as my "throw it in my pocket, it's fine, I have glass on it" model, so I don't "hate" it, but that screen is horrendous...it just is.) OLED is night and day next to that. My 3DS is night and day next to that. Next to my Ally? really doesn't look that different (OLED is still OLED...but....it's kind of similar enough.) That OG Switch screen claims to be IPS, but it doesn't look anything like any IPS I've ever seen, not even my 15 year old desktop display (granted it was really expensive at the time.) iPhone isn't OLED, but looks quite different from OG Switch.
Having said all that, it's very possible the OG Deck screen also sucks. They were hitting a price point with, for the time of release, insane hardware.
@Cloud39472 This is just the same tired complaints that were made 20+ years ago against the Star Wars prequels, when George Lucas, you know the guy who invented Star Wars, ruined Star Wars and pissed off half the fanbase. It's like trying to claim that Spider-Man 2 is a DEI, SBI led disaster because of one screenshot of MJ's face.
@tameshiyaku Hmm logic, some of these "outraged fans" should try it instead of just saying things they know are BS for likes.
@Cloud39472 Agreed. This game definitely not a "fanfiction" when it's developed by the original team.
I just don't get why some FF fans are so hellbent to critics or mock the time travel plot when FF series aren't a stranger with the concept.
From FF I, we got Warriors of Light who travel to the past to stop Garland / Chaos who created time loop so he can live forever. Then FF VIII plot twist also about time travel with the antagonist herself Ultimecia was from the future. Or FF X-2 and XIII-2 also has time travel especially XIII-2 since time travel is the main plot as well gameplay mechanic. Even Chrono Trigger, one of the best RPG developed by Square is about time travel.
I am just waiting for the game to be on PC.
@PuppetMaster Speaking for myself, it isn't about "time travel" as a storyline that's put me off, I would just say that the excess story baggage has been largely unnecessary, and for me (as well as for others, I'm sure), it falls flat, rather than hits the mark, so to speak. I understand it's a remake, and so they want to make it feel fresher, but I think that could have been done in a better way.
So you might disagree, as do others, and that's fine- but I think if there's a vocal crowd who are all making the same complaint, then that's a valid complaint, and no less right than the fans who say they love the new changes. Some of whom seem a bit 'salty', and maybe they would have equally loved the game without the new direction, because they're such fans.
The thing is, most remakes (in film, at least) will offer a new take on the story- very few will retread the same story but change key moments, and backlash is the reason why. I don't see why that's a difficult or different concept to grasp with Rebirth/ Remake.
@IOI actually, it doesn't say "everything". It says something. It hasn't performed as well as they had hoped. But how exactly it has performed remains a mystery.
@StrickenBiged how uncommon is that for the average game of similar length?
@UltimateOtaku91 depends on how much it costs to be made
@J2theEzzo "would just say that the excess story baggage has been largely unnecessary"
I'm not sure what 'story baggage' you're talking about here but "they can done in a better way" sounds like "i just want the same story".
@PuppetMaster But it is the same story, no? That's my point. They've essentislly given us the same story, then just changed some key sequences by relating to multiversal shenanigans, at a time when I feel like the multiverse concept is so ubiquitous, it just feels tired, and not half-so clever. In that way, I feel like something more interesting/ less arbitrary would have been better, or else, yes; stick to the original.
The problem of a multiverse, and this is spoken of frequently, is that it takes away any real gravitas because, if something important happens, you can just spin a yarn about how it's a separate timeline, etc.
Regardless, it's all subjective, but I don't think it's fair to say that anyone who doesn't like the direction of Remake/ Rebirth isn't a true fan, or are simply being contentious.
@J2theEzzo The problem for me is that a lot of the fans that dislike the Remakes claim that it's utter trash which makes it hard for me to see someone like that as a fan if they can't find at least some enjoyment in what Remake/Rebirth has to offer. The parts that make them hate it so much are quite literally 5% of the overall content afterall.
As to your point for "Some of whom seem a bit 'salty', and maybe they would have equally loved the game without the new direction, because they're such fans."
I would have loved a 1:1 Remake if that's what they did but now that I've seen the results of the Remake project, if I had to choose between a standard remake and what we have then I would choose the latter every single time.
I know you weren't talking to me but FF is probably my favourite thing to talk about so couldn't help but chime in.
@Cloud39472 That's totally fair, and I think you've given a well reasoned response.
To be clear, I've always enjoyed FF, and I did really like Remake, for it's moment to moment gameplay and just about everything else. I thought it was overall really solid (and happily beat it twice!). I don't doubt I'll pick up Rebirth, but some of my gripes with the direction of the previous title just put me off from a day 1 purchase. That said, I'm just happily getting through my backlog, and didn't think I had the time to invest!
@Cloud39472 I don't want to wait 3 years to wait for the conclusion I thought that would be easy to understand. If im three years further before the ending it's not fresh in my mind and it takes away from the experience. The same with some series after a while you just move on.
@Flaming_Kaiser Yeah, that part is understandable. The part I don't understand is where you said "For me they are ruining the story and characters they made cloud a joke with the dress up nonsense going to the beach bull is also a waste. They just ruined a legendary Final Fantasy such a waste."
If you feel this strongly about it then I don't understand why you would bother playing it at all?
No ps5 but I've played FF7 remake on my ps4. Well I've enjoyed the game, to a degree I found the amount of work to get the Platinum excessive. First their is the mini games which have trophies attached, the outfit quest trophies, all of which take way too long. Finishing the chapters on hard is not impossible but the lack of items and no way to recover mana is the real challenge from hard difficulty. Then it looks like FF7 rebirth added even more pointless quests which all need to be completed to get various trophies. I spent way too much time trying to get the darts trophy which is 10% skill 90% luck.
I know this is going to make me sound like a huge fanboy, but I really wish that Push Square would stop contributing to the narrative that FF7 Rebirth is/has underperformed. It's purely speculative, based on misleading outside sources.
With the known exclusivity contract for FF16 and FF7 Rebirth long over, I have to wonder why they have yet to even announce PC ports. Perhaps there is not such a dire need to port games and make extra money? I guess it is easy to speculate after all...
@Keyblade-Dan couldn't have said it better myself ff7 is one my most beloved game ever I was so excited when they announced the "remake" then we got some alt universe parallel dimension time ghost *****
I'll hold out for the real remake that's true to the original in the most core aspects of the game, especially the battle system
@Cloud39472 for me it's not 5%, lots of the scenes are overly cliche and cheesy, plus the very main part of the game for me is a completely different game, that being the battle system
@neillaw The original was full of cheesy charm so not a dealbreaker for me and to each their own I guess. Remakes battle system is one of the best in the series history and I really hope they adopt it for future mainline entries.
@Cloud39472 Because I want to play the full game again.
But I do have some issues with some of the choices. I do believe that they harmed some of the characters with their choices.
I have strong opinions about certain things but it does not mean I won't play or watch them.
They complain about costs but they make so much filler that takes time and resources aka money. I'm certain if they streamlined some of the content lose the useless filler they would have made more profit.
But this is the company that took ages on several games scrapped them and started from scratch. FF15 also took ages and they scrapped parts from the story.
Square-Enix makes great games but also makes stupid nonsensical choices they are lucky the FF14 reboot took off otherwise im not certain they would be here anymore.
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