- Square Enix has not had the best time in 2023, suffering from declining market value.
- The company is now focused on making up for these shortcomings, hoping to rely on the AAA market in the future.
- If this plan succeeds, the gaming giant could be looking at massive profits in the coming years.
Square Enix has been in a tough spot recently, as they have been losing a lot of market value.
Even though Final Fantasy 16 was a success, it was still not enough to make up for the poor choices made by the studio, leading to poor results from the developer overall.
It seems Square Enix has finally acknowledged its poor performance. In its annual report, the gaming giant pointed to steps for improvement, claiming that AAA games will receive a greater focus moving forward.
Why it matters: AAA games have become expensive and time-consuming, but if executed properly, they can bring in large amounts of profit.
Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu stated that the company will work from a medium to long-term perspective to optimize the allocation of its resources for both development and publishing. He continued:
“we will bolster the profitability of our Digital Entertainment segment and our HD games(AAA Games), in particular.”
Square Enix had been eyeing this option for some time, having previously stated that it would be concentrating more on AAA games. Back in August, it declared that fewer smaller to mid-sized games would be produced.
President Kiryu further explained that more consumers were interested in Square Enix’s digital entertainment instead of physical copies, which could lead to a new approach for content distribution moving forward.
The likes of Epic Games have experimented with a digital-only release for Alan Wake 2 this year, so Square Enix could follow suit. While the focus on bigger games will come into effect later on, a massive game like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is scheduled for 2024.
Therefore, fans should expect more big-budget titles based on Final Fantasy and other Square Enix IPs.
The past few months have been tough for Square Enix as their operating income was down by 78%, and market value plummeted by $2 billion in September.
This was attributed to the poor choices Square Enix had made in the past, but many even pointed fingers at Final Fantasy 16’s PS5 exclusivity, stating that exclusivity limited its success.
The gaming giant’s new approach certainly sounds promising. However, with the time and effort associated with new AAA releases, it will require a few more years to change its internal operations for more frequent AAA titles.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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