Square Enix has not had the best year in its history. Now that their fiscal year financial results have been published, the numbers are contradictory. The company generated 356.344 billion yen in revenue, around 2.120 billion dollars, which is a 3.8% increase compared to the previous year. The problem is that profits were 32.558 billion yen, around 193 million euros, which is a 26.6% decrease compared to the previous year.
This is explained because the increase in development costs has weighed down its profitability. They have emphasized that the revenues from Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth have performed very well, but due to development costs and the results of other games, they have not performed equally well. Especially when the releases of new free-to-play games, such as Dragon Quest Champions and Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, have not managed to offset the decline in other divisions.
That is why Square Enix has announced a medium-term plan to improve its revenue. Over the next 3 fiscal years, the Japanese company will rely on four specific pillars. Which will greatly affect us as players.
First, they want to make fewer games, but of higher quality. They will centralize their developments more, sharing resources, in order to reduce production costs. Second, they want to bet on multiplatform releases. That, along with a more aggressive attitude towards discounts on digital games, they hope to improve overall sales. Third, they want to rebuild their operations in Europe and North America, trying to achieve better results in those markets. And fourth and final, they will invest 100,000 million yen, around 595 million euros, to make strategic investments.
All this means that we should see fewer Square Enix games, but better advertised, more polished, and cheaper. Something that should be a net positive for players, as these are changes for the better, especially for the Western audience. Something that we will still have to wait to see results, as it is a three-year plan, but it will undoubtedly give us a better version of the Japanese company.
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