Square Enix Admits Big Final Fantasy Titles Underperformed in Q1 2024

It’s been a tough fiscal quarter for Square Enix, and even the mighty Final Fantasy franchise couldn’t save the day. In a recently published financial report courtesy of Eurogamer, Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu confirmed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 both fell short of sales expectations for May 2024.

“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,” Kiryu said.

The financial report detailed the slow start of Final Fantasy 16 before its eventual PC release yesterday and highlighted the continued absence of a PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. While the Final Fantasy 16 PC release might just give those numbers a much-needed boost, the performance of both titles so far has left Square Enix reevaluating its strategy.

Kiryu didn’t sugarcoat the reasons for the disappointing results, pointing out that the company’s multi-release strategy had backfired. “We did not manage our title portfolio across the company as well as we could have,” he admitted, acknowledging that their own games ended up competing against each other. With Final Fantasy XIV expansions like Dawntrail, the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Visions of Mana, all coming out within months of each other, its might have been too much for the company’s own good.

The report also touched on MMO profits, which took a dip due to a lull in releases ahead of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail. Kiryu explained that Square Enix’s MMO revenue was down, though this decline was expected as players waited for the latest expansion.

The company’s fiscal challenges, however, have already led to significant changes. Square Enix is doubling down on a new “multiplatform business strategy,” which it first revealed in May 2024. The strategy involves a push to win over PC gamers alongside ongoing internal restructuring to streamline development processes and cut unnecessary competition between its own studios. With layoffs hitting both US and EU offices and a flat organizational structure now in effect, Kiryu emphasized the importance of encouraging “greater dialogue within development and publishing functions” to avoid future missteps.