PS5 Exclusives Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Failed to Meet Expectations 1
Image: Push Square

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will be competing for the top accolades when it comes to Game of the Year this Christmas, but Square Enix isn’t happy with how it’s performed. In fact, the Japanese publisher’s two big PS5 exclusives, also including Final Fantasy 16, have failed to “meet expectations”. That’s according to a financial results briefing held in May, which was released publicly today.

The full statement from boss Takashi Kiryu is as follows: “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.” Other titles like Foamstars, which has since gone free-to-play, have failed to perform at the level anticipated as well.

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While the company hasn’t shared concrete sales data, it’s worth noting that Final Fantasy 16 released on PC this week. In terms of concurrent players on Steam, it’s peaked at just under 20,000, so seems to be off to a sturdy start. Square Enix has also admitted it’ll be aggressively pursuing a multiformat strategy moving forwards.

While there’s no doubt launching simultaneously on PC and to a lesser extent Xbox will improve its sales figures, we’re not convinced it’s the silver bullet Square Enix is looking for. It’ll likely lose Sony’s marketing prowess for starters, which has been instrumental in getting word out about these games; Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was everywhere at launch while we were travelling Asia.

It strikes us that Final Fantasy, as a brand, is losing its lustre a little – perhaps owing to the divisive nature of the recent releases themselves. While we recommend both Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it’s worth remembering these aren’t exactly enticing entry points for newcomers – in fact, Square Enix was constantly pushing the point that Final Fantasy 16 is a self-contained story.

It’ll be interesting to see how it proceeds from here. Obviously we can expect the conclusion to the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, but that series is inevitably going to find its audience dwindling with each subsequent instalment, as players fall off the story – no matter how good the actual games are.

And without Sony footing the marketing bills and stumping up money hats, it’s going to be all on Square Enix to get word out about the games. Maybe it’ll find more success this way, and perhaps the new Nintendo system will support its ambition – but we’re not 100 per cent convinced simply releasing on more platforms will solve all its problems.

Do you think PS5 exclusivity is to blame for Final Fantasy's struggles? (1,211 votes)

  1. Yes, the franchise will do better if its multiformat21%
  2. A little bit, but it's not the only issue31%
  3. No, Final Fantasy has bigger problems than exclusivity44%
  4. I'm really not sure5%

[source hd.square-enix.com, via eurogamer.net]