Square Enix has announced disappointing financial results for the fiscal year ending in March 2024 that will shake up their business and corporate structure as they look to bounce back. This new medium-term business plan is expected to define its business and content policies for the next three years and includes a dramatic shift to multi-platform support for its stable of established intellectual properties, including Final Fantasy.
So, how did we get here? On April 30, Square Enix sent out an investor letter warning them of significant “content abandonment losses” as a result of canceled projects not aligning with their updated business model. This is despite a 3.8% sales increase thanks to the release of mainstay Final Fantasy titles Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. A look at the new medium-term business plan presentation entitled “Square Enix Reboot, and Awaken: 3 years for rebooting for long-term growth” and you can see how games faced development cancellation at Square Enix based on the criteria set in the plan's four core pillars.
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Enhance productivity by optimizing the development footprint in the Digital Entertainment.
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Diversify earnings opportunities by strengthening customer contact points.
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Roll out initiatives to create additional foundational stability.
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Strike a balance between shareholder return and growth investment when allocating capital.
The transition to “aggressively pursue a multi-platform strategy” falls under the second pillar and lists all major platforms, including Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. Add to that an official shift in development philosophy that focuses on quality over quantity, and you can start to decipher the iconic Japanese publisher’s new less-is-more-and-more-to-everyone approach.
There’s no official word on how this new plan will affect the third and final title in the Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy. Sales figures for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth haven’t been released, but reports have speculated that sales of the Remake sequel didn’t do as well as Square Enix hoped. Of course, both Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth launched exclusively on PlayStation, so a multi-platform release of the unnamed finale–especially on PC–could be the sales boon Square Enix is hoping for.
For more details, including Square Enix’s breakdown of each core pillar in their new medium-term business plan, check out the full presentation.
