Square Enix Operating Income Down By 78% Despite Final Fantasy 16 Release

Expert Verified By

Due To Huge Costs of Game Development!

Square Enix has been a staple of the gaming industry over the decades. Despite a few rotten apples, the publisher has many successful IPs and recently displayed an impressive performance with Final Fantasy 16.

However, Final Fantasy 16’s success has not been enough to boost Square Enix’s operating profits. The business recently released its FY24 Q1 Results, and its operating income was down by 78.5% from the previous year.

Why it matters: Game development is becoming more expensive with each generation, and this also means that losses can be disastrous for publishers and developers.

Square Enix FY24 Q1 Results
Square Enix FY24 Q1 Results

The report hints that the success of Final Fantasy 16 was not enough to overshadow the other weak releases from Square Enix.

Recently, the publisher released games like Forspoken. The game cost over $100 million to develop but ended up falling far behind expectations. This has likely played a major role in the declining operating income.

Previously, Square Enix admitted that Forspoken was a failure and its sales were “lackluster.” Additionally, Square Enix’s MMO sales are down by 22%, and mobile game sales are down by 18.7%.

Nonetheless, Square Enix will likely recover in the coming months. The gaming giant has recently partnered with Xbox to bring Final Fantasy 14 and other games to the platform. This should help improve revenue from the MMO.

Furthermore, the publisher’s net sales are up by 14.4%. It sold 7.54 million games in FY24 Q1, almost twice as many as it shipped in FY23 Q1. HD sales have also seen a massive 140% increase due to Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters.

The gaming giant has also highlighted plans for future remasters and faster AAA releases through streamlined game development. These measures could ensure improved revenue and profits through beloved classics and existing IPs.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Black Ops 7 Beta Struggles on Steam – Player Count Nearly 5x Lower Than Battlefield 6 Beta

According to SteamDB, Black Ops 7 beta player count only topped at about 100K players, compared to Battlefield 6 beta's over 500K.

Activision Claims 97% Of Black Ops 7 Cheaters Are Banned Within 30 Minutes

97% of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 cheaters were banned within 30 minutes of signing in, while only 1% made it into the game.

Silent Hill 3 Remake Reportedly Coming in 2028 as Bloober Team Works on Resident Evil-Inspired New IP

Bloober Team is rumored to be working on a Silent Hill 3 remake and a new Resident Evil-inspired IP, with releases expected in 2026 and 2028.

Battlefield 6: EA Promises 120 FPS Performance on Consoles and Free DLC Support

Battlefield 6 to support 120FPS, and alongside, EA to give out a free DLC titled 'Covert Operations' during Season 1.

Microsoft Reportedly Scrapped Its Xbox Handheld After AMD’s Shocking Demands

A new report reveals that the first-party Xbox handheld was cancelled because AMD demanded 10 million sales to develop a custom SoC.