Today Square Enix released its year end fiscal report, highlighting a bit of a rough year for their "HD Games" and have announced they will be taking a new approach going forward with a multi-platform approach.
Dubbed "Square Enix Reboots, and Awakens" this new strategy is a 3 year plan that will include a "shift to a multi-platform strategy." Square Enix said it will "aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs." Nintendo platforms being plural would imply games likely coming to both the Switch and the recently semi announced Switch 2.
As part of this multiplatform push, Square Enix said it will “build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles in regards to major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles.” It's unclear exactly what all of this entails, but it certainly seems like all Square Enix games for at least the next three years will come to every platform.
But what exactly has led to this sudden change in strategy for Square Enix? While game sales actually grew 2.6% their profits dropped by 15.8%. This comes as the company released Foamstars and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth as Playstation 5 exclusives, on top of the previously released PlayStation 5 exclusive Final Fantasy 16.
Specifically when it comes to "HD Games" which Square Enix uses as a subcategory to talk about the games above the company saw a significant operating loss of ¥8.1 billion (approximately $51.9 million).
Also interestingly is the fact that they didn't announce any sales figures for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. All Square Enix would say is it has suffered from an "incomplete journey to better profitability in HD game development", and that it had "launched many titles but some failed to live up to profit expectations, especially outsourced titles and some AAA titles."
Looking ahead we know Square has the Dawntrail DLC for Final Fantasy 14 coming soon as well as the already announced Kingdom Hearts 4 and Dragon Quest 12.
As the entire industry seems to be shifting it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
