240°

Square Enix Announces Relatively Weak Financial Results, Still Expects to Come Up on Top in Q4

Today Square Enix announced its financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year, related to the period between April 2023 and December 2023.

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techraptor.net
NotoriousWhiz83d ago

FF7R 2nd is definitely going to be a beast.

Eonjay82d ago

I wouldn't be surprised so of those operating expenses were directly related to FF7. Revenue was actually up about 1% YoY while profits declined about 15.5%. Tech Raptor shows 34,918 million yen profit which is only about $235,000. That is razor thin. Suffice to say, profits next quarter are going to skyrocket in comparison.

Tacoboto83d ago

Not according to the article if you bothered to click and read.

CrimsonWing6983d ago

It’s weird because then you see things saying it didn’t:

https://comicbook.com/gamin...

I think the sales did better than games before this Quarter the year before as the article mentions, but I don’t think the sales were what they were expecting as they’re showing “weak financial results” for Q4.

I think the whole idea of making FF appeal to non-fans was a failure for sure.

Obscure_Observer83d ago

The exclusive partnership with Sony clearly is not working so well as they were expecting for a few years now.

Leaving PC, Xbox and Nintendo out, was a mistake.

Nyxus83d ago

@ Obscure: FFVII Remake is on PC and Rebirth will be released on PC as well. Same with FFXVI. Pixel Remasters are on the Switch and PC. So they're not skipping those platforms, only Xbox. I wonder why?

repsahj83d ago (Edited 83d ago )

@crimsonwing69

Dude your article is from september 2023. This new report is about financial results between april 2023 to december 2023.

Levii_9283d ago

FF16 is a flop regradless of sales IMO.

CantThinkOfAUsername83d ago (Edited 83d ago )

@CrimsonWing69 People didn't want a European medieval setting from a game called Final Fantasy.

Obscure_Observer83d ago

@Nyxus

"FFVII Remake is on PC and Rebirth will be released on PC as well. Same with FFXVI."

You already know by now that PC gamers aren´t exactly trilled to be treated as "second-class citizens".

By the time FFXVI finally hits the PC, PC gamers will obviously be looking forward for the next big thing that will be day and date on both consoles and PC, and FFXVI at full price after one year (or more) will not cause a major impact resulting in incredible sales.

"So they're not skipping those platforms, only Xbox. I wonder why?"

Stop wonder, it´s money. Sony money pure and simple.

Octopath Traveler skipped on Playstation. But available on both Xbox and the Switch.

Visions of Mana will skip the Switch but will be available on both Xbox and Playstation.

I do understand that Playstation is where the vast majority of Final Fantasy fans are, but the game is clearly not so popular like it used to be.

So yes, going full Playstation was a mistake as their own numbers shows. it is what it is.

Nyxus82d ago

@ Obscure: again, the numbers show that the HD games segment (under which FFXVI falls) is up 15%. It's the Mobile/PC Browser games and MMO games that are down.

Tacoboto82d ago

@Obscure

Their numbers don't support what you're trying to suggest. For all we know, an Xbox version of 16 would've increased dev costs and sales wouldn't have offset that because of the now-indisputable fact that Xbox gamers are fewer, buy less games, and Microsoft is more than content with that. Bringing 16 to the Switch was impossible given their tech target.

If Square's earlier support of Game Pass and being in the Xbox ecosystem was lucrative and worth it for them, we wouldn't have seen titles like Octopath 2 skip the platform and we wouldn't be seeing Sony so easily convincing Square to keep titles PS exclusive for any duration of time.

Christopher82d ago

@Obscure trying to push the deal as bad even though FFXVI was very profitable and one of the few reasons Square isn't even worse off. Square is bad because they're putting money into other bad decisions, yet FFXVI was one of the few not bad decisions.

FinalFantasyFanatic82d ago

@Obscure_Observer,
Most Square-Enix games are on PC and other systems, FF16 will probably come to pc eventually.

Obscure_Observer81d ago (Edited 81d ago )

@Tacoboto @Nyxus @Christopher

"If Square's earlier support of Game Pass and being in the Xbox ecosystem was lucrative and worth it for them, we wouldn't have seen titles like Octopath 2 skip the platform and we wouldn't be seeing Sony so easily convincing Square to keep titles PS exclusive for any duration of time"

I don´t believe that. Octopath 2 is available on Xbox but the original Octopath is not available on Playstation.

This bs narrative that Xbox gamers don´t buy games needs to stop.

Right now Baldur´s Gate 3 is the 15th most played game on Xbox and it´s not available on Gamepass, same goes to MW3 and Tekken 8.

In no moment I said that FFXVI on PS5 flopped.

What I was trying to say is that going full exclusive with Playstation was a mistake given the size and scope of that game.

They could have made a lot more money if they´d released that game day and date on PS5, PC and Xbox.

Most third party publishers are boasting strong financial results. Even Konami (smh), because their games are available day and date on multiple platforms. Square is not.

Again, it´s not Playstation´s fault. That´s entirely on SE´s business decisions on many fronts.

@Obscure trying to push the deal as bad even though FFXVI was very profitable and one of the few reasons Square isn't even worse off.

It´s not the deal itself. It´s the whole decision to go exclusive with one platform for a such big and expensive game.

I don´t even think that Spider-Man 2 sold as many copies as it should to make that 320 Million in development costs back at the top of big profits for all the parties involved.

Tacoboto81d ago

"I don´t believe that. Octopath 2 is available on Xbox but the original Octopath is not available on Playstation.

This bs narrative that Xbox gamers don´t buy games needs to stop."

Octopath 2 is not yet available on Xbox - it will be sometime "early 2024". It's on PC already, just only through Steam and not the Microsoft Store. A date still hasn't been set.

So not only was Square's Game Pass experiment clearly not worth it to them, it was so bad they thought it worthwhile for anticipated sequels to completely skip the entire ecosystem until Microsoft sent Phil over with a blank check.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 81d ago
Nyxus83d ago

At least read before commenting.

"Sales for HD games (games for consoles and PC excluding MMOs) were 66.8 billion yen, up from 58.1 billion yen in the previous year. This is due to the launch of games like Final Fantasy XVI, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters."

thorstein82d ago

And Final Fantasy XVI is one of the best in a long time. (Not disparaging the other releases) it is just better than so many great FF games.

shinoff218382d ago

Thorstein, yea fking right. There hasn't been a great ff since 9. 10 was good but not great.

SlothLordPootus82d ago

Such a big flop that they decided to reinvest in it and develop DLC. /s

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 81d ago
Nyxus83d ago

Weird, that's not what the article is saying at all. You just made it up it seems.

The_Hooligan83d ago

What else would you expect from someone named jimbo lol.

The article clearly states why the sales were down for the period "The drop in sales and operating income was motivated by the declines in the MMO and smartphone segments, as well as increased development cost amortization and advertising spending."

Anyway, this is a common thing on this site. People will read the title without reading the content and make up their own narratives. I am not just talking about this game or Sony games, but XBOX games as well. People let their bias blind them from facts.

gold_drake83d ago

FF7 to the rescue once again haha.

Hofstaderman82d ago

Dont know why you got disagrees, Square themselves stated that Rebirth will bolster their Q earnings. Also, we all know that its going to sell like hotcakes.

gold_drake82d ago

ah i dont care about that quite honestly.

remake saved their arses too when it came out.

thw og aswell ha.

Trilithon82d ago

im enjoying FF16. while there is a lot of talking, usually you can skip it. Looking forward to FF7R2!

Show all comments (35)
70°

Bloober Team Working On 2 New Games Already

Discover the latest news from Bloober Team: they are working on 2 new games, including a new IP in partnership with Private Division.

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gamersocialclub.ca
290°

Steam’s Refund Policy Change Won’t Affect You Unless You’re A Lowlife

Steam is changing its refund policy, but you probably won’t be affected

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thegamer.com
thorstein1d 3h ago

Should have happened a long time ago. People wanting refunds after 50 hours in game.

fsfsxii23h ago

Pc gamers will take this as an excuse to pirate things

KyRo23h ago

I'm not sure why you're getting disgrees. Whilst not all PC gamers are petty, an awful lot of them are lol

Crows9023h ago

Entirely untrue. Not any more petty than console gamers. The only large difference is console gamers don't have much of a choice.

Michiel198914h ago

Not sure why you're getting agrees. an awful lot of console gamers are overemotional twinks ready to go to war over a plastic box, I'll take being a pc gamer then.

Speaking about overgeneralizing much.

Nooderus5h ago

"X" type of gamer conversations are cringe

qalpha23h ago

Daily reminder that 'TheGamer' is a corporate-generated, anti-gamer, anti-consumer, clickbait web site. They are mostly A.I. generated articles that villainize gamers. They provide nothing positive and actively try to provoke and divide the community through extreme view points and politics. Do not give them any clicks.

Inverno23h ago

Only scumbags? As if people don't play their games on console put in the most amount of hours and return it to GameStop and trade it in for another game. But also how many people are actually do this? And what games have been allowed to be refunded?

DustMan23h ago

You can refund any game you've purchased as long as it hasn't been longer than two weeks, and you've played less than 2 hours. I wish they would change it to 3 hours because some RPG's have so much exposition that you may only get an hour total of complete gameplay. That's my only knock on it. I've refunded plenty of stuff I was just curious to try. I typically stay away from Early Access titles which are the only ones affected by this policy change.

Inverno22h ago

Apparently early access doesn't count, only complete games with a play early preorder bonus.

Gaming4Life198123h ago

I definitely know if I want a refund in 2 hours.

SegaSaturn66914h ago

I never liked refunding anything. Even if a film is bad, i dont want my money back. Sometimes things just aren't for me, and it's not the creator's fault necessarily.

Gaming4Life19819h ago

I feel you and i have never walked out on a bad movie cause I payed my money. I also don't refund games cause I'm a gamer and I know what to buy lol. I think having a digital refund is great.

Show all comments (15)
100°

Media Molecule’s Next Game is Going to be a New IP

A job listing published by the UK studio reveals that its next project will be another entirely new IP.

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gamingbolt.com
Inverno1d 19h ago

The only PlayStation dev I care about tbh.

Inverno23h ago

Dayum did I hit a nerve. Sorry for not liking most of this gens games coming from PS, not really doe.

Cacabunga1d 19h ago

Hopefully doesn’t take them a complete gen to release it

TheColbertinator1d 13h ago

Good. Something not boring, not one of those "make your own game" crap and also on Steam would be nice.

Stopac1d 11h ago

I too like to look for things in the wrong places.