Square Enix has admitted it could have done a better job at managing its games to make sure they weren't cannibalizing each other and sneaking money out of their corporate sibling's pockets.
Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu said as much in the company's financial results briefing in May, which was just recently released to the public. The briefing delves into the company's failed "medium-term business plan" that covered 2022 to its most recent fiscal year ending this March 31 and made the publisher around 150 billion yen less than it was expecting.
"We recognize that issues remain in the Digital Entertainment segment," Kiryu explained in the briefing. "The HD Games sub-segment failed to better its profitability, posting operating losses in every year of our previous medium-term plan."
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth producer says the JRPG sold well, but future games "cannot be exclusive to a single platform" anymore
- Final Fantasy 14 battle designer admits the team "vetoed some interesting ideas" for Endwalker fight mechanics "so melee players wouldn't be frustrated by periods of downtime"
Square's president says the missed goals were partly down to how it "did not manage our title portfolio across the company as well as we could have, which I believe resulted in opportunity losses due to cannibalization between our own titles." Kiryu doesn't point to any specific examples, but the publisher is somewhat notorious for releasing niche, sometimes great games haphazardly. In September 2022, for example, it pushed out Yoko Taro's deckbuilding RPG, turn-based RPG Various Daylife, strategy RPG The Diofield Chronicle, and action RPG Valkyrie Elysium without much space to breathe or promotion - talk about self-sabotage.
Elsewhere, the company pulled its most recognizable catchphrase out of the locker to proclaim that some of its games - multiplayer shooter Foamstars, Final Fantasy 16, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to shame and name a few - came in under "expectations." But, again, Square Enix has been banging that drum at least since it complained of Tomb Raider 2013's missed sales expectations - and that reboot kickstarted a trilogy that went on to sell over 38 copies in the long run.
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