Too little profit, too much PS5 – gaming giant fires employees, kills new games

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Square Enix is ​​in crisis. Profits have fallen by 70%. It is believed that there has been too much focus on the PlayStation 5 with exclusive titles such as Final Fantasy XVI or Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Now you want to pursue a new strategy. It starts with layoffs.

This is the crisis: Square Enix has unveiled a new business plan (via square-enix) and shown the numbers for a disappointing year that ran from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024:

  • Profits are down 69.79%
  • Sales for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI, while strong, were below expectations (via pushsquare). Apparently the problem was that the games were released exclusively for the PS5
  • The aim is to counteract this with a new business strategy. Square Enix is ​​talking about a reboot and seems to mean it. New games are now scheduled to appear for the Switch, PC, XBox and PlayStation. Mobile titles are also an option.

    • Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Launch Trailer

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    Layoffs in the US and Europe

    These are the direct effects of the crisis: Square Enix has announced layoffs in Europe and the US. They want to build their “overseas divisions from scratch.”

    In a statement it is said (via pcgamer) that the restructuring unfortunately means that the total number of employees in Europe and America will decrease. We are grateful to the talented team members who are leaving Square Enix.

    The exact dimensions of the layoffs are not yet known.

    The discontinuation of the projects leads to the bad figures.

    Square Enix is ​​canceling games that were scheduled to be released in 2027 and beyond

    In addition, Square Enix will stop developing several unannounced projects that no longer fit the new strategy. This discontinuation of projects is reflected in the business balance sheet and causes the poor figures.

    In the third quarter of 2024, 38 billion yen will be written off, which is around 230 million euros.

    The depreciation largely results from the discontinuation of games that were actually supposed to be released from 2027 and beyond.

    Games for Nintendo, PC, Xbox; Mobile and PlayStation

    What is the new strategy? The new strategy is described as an “aggressive multiplatform strategy.” They also want to focus on “quality instead of quantity”.

    It is said that they want to focus on the “core franchises”, regularly develop AAA titles, but also publish profitable mid-range titles.

    The platforms targeted are Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox and the PC. They also want to develop mobile titles with the option of bringing them to the PC.

    On MeinMMO we are primarily concerned with Final Fantasy XIV. Naoki Yoshida is the mastermind here: The savior of Final Fantasy 14 is about to make perhaps the biggest mistake of his career

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