Earlier in 2024, reports revealed that changes were coming to the way Square Enix made games after lackluster financial returns in 2023. Well, the company has revealed its plans, and they’re pretty shocking. Square Enix will abandon more than $100 million in HD games.
During a meeting in March, Square Enix’s board of directors voted to “revise the Group’s approach to the development of high-definition (HD) games.” That wasn’t all, however, as the Group also expects to take on “content abandonment losses” to the tune of ¥22.1 billion, which is 141 million USD, meaning a number of titles are going to end up in the virtual scrapyard.
Here’s the full statement:
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“At the meeting convened on March 27, 2024, the Board of Directors of SQUARE ENIX
HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (the “Company”) voted, in light of the myriad changes underway in the
environment surrounding its Group, to revise the Group’s approach to the development of
high-definition (HD) games with the intention of being more selective and focused in the
allocation of development resources. As a result of a close examination of the Group’s
development pipeline undertaken in keeping with this revised approach, the Company expects
to recognize approximately ¥22.1 billion in content abandonment losses on its books for the
fiscal year ended March 2024.”
It’s hard to read that statement and not think Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth had something to do with the overhaul. Despite being Square Enix’s biggest release of the year, the company has yet to announce its sales figures, and gaming analyst Daniel Ahmad wrote on X earlier this month that the game was “underperforming.”
It remains to be seen how being more selective will affect games like Kingdom Hearts 4 and Dragon Quest 12, which are both in the works at Square Enix.
