Square Enix has published its financial report for fiscal year 2021, and although the publisher is still reasonably healthy overall, its net sales were down almost ten percent on fiscal year 2020 — and it could have been worse if not for the continued success of Final Fantasy XIV.
The MMORPG really is the company's biggest money maker at the moment, contributing massively to increased sales in Square Enix's online sector. The game saw a "sharp rise" in monthly subscribers, and was bolstered further by the release of its Endwalker expansion.
Let's be real, though, it comes as no surprise to see Square Enix report a decline in sales. In 2020 it had Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Marvel's Avengers. The latter obviously didn't have the impact that the company would have wanted, but it did sell well around launch.
Compared to Outriders (which has yet to break even), NieR Replicant (a remaster of an already niche title), and Guardians of the Galaxy (which underperformed) in 2021, it's easy to see why Square Enix has struggled.
It'll be hoping that selling off most of its Western studios and properties to Embracer Group will help solidify its position. All eyes will also be on Final Fantasy XVI, which is being spearheaded by the team that made the aforementioned Final Fantasy XIV such a huge hit.
[source hd.square-enix.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments (15)
When you see what they are prioritising for the future its hard to want Sqeenix to succeed at all.
But FF14 is a great story - it demonstrates that Devs committed to quality and looking after and prioritising their customers needs are rewarded with fantastic loyalty and a super successful product.
Most of us would go' duh, of course!' but I believe some corps need reminding of this link!
The Diofield Chronicles is coming out this year. Assuming all gamers have the same taste as me, that title alone will propel Square's revenue to unimaginable heights.
This is a W for games as service . love to see it
A game that needs a $12 monthly fee... still need to pay extra for expansions... and always online.
"Is the game fun" - it is all that matters.
Stop playing ages ago, but glad still going strong. Assuming "LaFamilia" is no longer around.
Good to see ff xiv doing so well. They showed what you can accomplish if you listen to your fan base and make an mmo where you're not forced to login all the time.
Let's hope xvi will be the same success seeing the producer is the same as on xiv.
It’s such a shame that Guardians underperformed, it’s easily one of the best comic book games ever.
Avengers, Outriders and GotG I haven't yet finished and GotG is the only one I'm liable to. SE are just missing something, their Western style games don't have the hook.
Good thing they let go of the marvel games
I would love to see Sony grab Squenix and all of the JRPG content left over after the western licenses are gone. Think they would be an awesome addition to the Sony family.
@Milktastrophe Not going to happen.
@Agramonte So the definition of a good MMO, WoW does it, ESO does it to an existent and they are all successful.
@nessisonett The game would've done great had it come out before Avengers, it just scared people off of Marvel games coming from them.
Not surprising. Minus the cost of the base game, expansions, and monthly sub. The FFXIV faithful drops thousands of dollars into this game weekly due to the cash shop. I have a discord/FC member that fantasia basically every week, and those things aren't cheap.
FFXIV is on track to be my favourite Final Fantasy. While Stormblood was a bit of a lull, Shadowbringers was amazing — and I've really come to love the cast dearly, and have enjoyed their character growth. It's a shame so many will write it off due to being an MMORPG. Lord knows I nearly did.
It's a shame about Outriders and Guardians of the Galaxy, too. I actually really rate the former as a fun looter shooter (and it's not a live service) with solid run -and-gun gameplay and a decent story that has a cool twist.
Guardians I'm a tad cooler on as I thought it felt a bit too on-rails at times, and I also think it outstayed it's welcome. I won't spoil it, but there's a point in the story where I was like "Okay, we are only doing this so you can pad the game time to about 20 hours so gamers don't throw a tantrum." Had it been closer to 10, I'd have enjoyed it a lot more — and probably replayed it. As it stands, I finished, traded my copy, and moved on with my life. But I do think it has the potential to be well received by the public, but launched at a bad time — remember, most people only get a couple of titles a year, with attach rates for a consoles lifetime generally sitting around 8-10 — and was probably dealing with the reputation of Avengers.
Plus, at the time I saw a lot of "I'll wait until it comes to Game Pass." Which eventually did, justifying and enabling that thinking and a bit of patience.
Neo: The World Ends with You is so niche that it didn't even get mentioned in this article 😔
Tap here to load 15 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...