This looks like a great item for fans. JAKKS Pacific, Inc. today announced a partnership with Sega of America, Inc. for the upcoming animated Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sonic Prime, maintaining JAKKS as one of the franchise’s global merchandise partners.
Square Enix is shifting its strategy to aggressively pursue multiplatform releases and focus on quality over quantity.
Yup, it's official. FFXVI and FFVII Rebirth didn't sell as much as they expected.
- 1% increase in net sales compared to a year with Forspoken and Octopath Traveller II, which didn't sell more than 3 millions combined (and I'm being generous).
- A 38.3% decrease in operating income despite the release of 'High-Definition' titles namely FFXVI, FF Pixels Remaster, Dragon Quest Monsters, and FFVII Rebirth.
- Aggressive multiplatform strategy one year after saying that exclusivity with PlayStation was mutually desired.
Sure, it's all in my head.
Probably for PC and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. Square Enix games doesn't sell to well on Xbox
Square named Drops Xbox as part of their multiplatform approach in their quarterly reports.
Like it matters MS will probably find away to close them down to.
I mean, maybe? They'll want as much as possible and I figure they could have been hoping for greater impact on PlayStation, but that's good reason to reflect and realize the resources and development cycle of these games aren't very sustainable. The solution is to make more affordable games with shorter dev cycles, then once in a while bring out the big guns.
I think Final Fantasy VII Re make and Rebirth would do really well if it was multiplatform. Specifically, if Nintendo gets their hardware up to snuff, and the rumors are promising. I don't really have much faith in its performance on Xbox, but Nintendo gamers really commit to buying their games. At one point, Breath of the Wild for Switch outsold the Switch itself.
Granted, Zelda always solos everything except GTA, but Nintendo folk are avid Final Fantasy fans. I think it would do exceptionally. Nintendo just needs to make porting easy and inexpensive and they'll get more games.
The two most profitable games for them didn't sell as much as expected. Yes. Make it make sense.
Hopefully the next Nintendo system isn't a potato and it can contribute to FF sales in future as well, in addition to PC releases. If this ensures the long term health for SE and franchises than like FF and KH then I'm all for it.
Adding Nintendo and PC customers is the best way to increase sales and long term success. Not going to get that from Xbox.
Hof,
You must not have heard they are launching new hardware and have already committed to a Next-Gen Xbox.
But, for some reason, I think you already knew that and wanted to spin a silly narrative; besides, why wouldn't they release games on the SX/SS? You do know these consoles will still be here, right?
Optics. They have a STATED plan to do so. Thats not commitment. The shareholders and board are calling the shots now. Lets see if they have the appetite for hardware because they are owed 80 Billion Dollars already. Investment in hardware, R and D and marketing is how much again? That cost with the history of their hardware performance....at most maybe a handheld. What I am certain of XBOX is finished, the writing has been on the wall before the studio closures. Its MS Games and they are not hardware. They are software because MS is a software company. Expect them to be folded in the Surface team.
*hardware
I believe they committed to hardware.
I hate to nitpick, but that's kind of the company they are. You have to.
@hofstaderman the board and shareholders have always called the shots or had a huge impact on decisions.
Xbox finished lmao, the writing has been on the wall? mate they just spend 70 BILLION dollars, and you see the writing is on the wall that they're done. 0 idea what you're talking about. They grafiti'd on the wall and you still can't see it.
"They have a STATED plan to do so. That's not commitment."
Huh? What are you talking about? They announced they would be unveiling new Hardware this holiday season; how else are they supposed to commit to it?
" Lets see if they have the appetite for hardware because they are owed 80 Billion Dollars already"
What a silly statement, you think this deal was approved so they could make 80 billion in less than a year? This is a long-term commitment, a future-proofing of profit.
"What I am certain of XBOX is finished,"
No, you are not certain of this lol; as you stated, if they make even a Handheld in the form of a Steam-Deck that can dock to a TV/monitor, wouldn't that be just changing the form factor but still XBOX?
Closing these studios has really got you guys delusional; that is what happens in companies, in a changing market: you acquire, and you trim; like it or not, that is the way things are done. Lets look.
Where is the new Psygnosis with a new wipeout?
What happened to Japan Studio? Pixl Opus? London Studio?
Where is Zipper Interactive?
I can list more, but you see, closing devs doesn't mean your company is finished, especially when you have like 30+ dev teams.
They won't be unveiling the hardware this holiday season it will be like the series x and s they got a tease at the game awards 2018. But no details until year of their release in 2020 lol
Please tell me the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is still coming. I feel like I've been waiting forever for that game.
i think the juggernauts kingdom hearts (disney provides the money for that one) final fantasy and dragon quest are fine, the rest not as much
I'm kinda worried about the future of DQ though, Toriyama and the composer both passed away. Huge blow to the franchise.
Another sign that dedicated consoles market is in trouble, while PC seems more and more attractive to big publishers.
Having a good gaming PC and a PS5 myself, given current trend form both Sony and MS I am less and less playing on PS5, waiting for exclusives to release on PC, so I understand the logic behind the new strategy.
Ants,
I get that we don't know exactly without numbers, but come on, man, we can clearly see what's happening.
The console market has not grown much, the highest-selling console in history is still the PS2. You can play the " prove it" game all you want, but Sony's more aggressive PC push, SE completely rebooting their company/business, after being mainly exclusive to one console and showing a sizeable profit loss is telling.
PC is a high seller, and your doubtful PS5 dominant stance does not change the clear writing on the wall, straight from Sony's mouth, that they need to be, and will be more aggressive in the very lucrative PC market.
So, in other words, PC market is indeed looking more and more attractive to Pubs.
@730
Numbers?
I'm willing to bet the farm that ¨PC gamers are not the dominate number compared to console, but I don't know because I don't have numbers. However, the price point of entry can allow us to infer what I had just stated.
What an ironic thing to say on a link-agreggate site like N4G. Explains your comment history perfectly.
asks for numbers. receives numbers and then continues to say I don't wanna click a website (because it might shatter my illusion)
I understand it as pc is getting more popular since consoles are stagnating. Like consoles to need to compete with pc you know so everyone wins.
“ In addition, Square Enix will also pursue a shift from “quantity to quality” as its medium- to long-term philosophy.”
I got downvotes for saying this was the reason. Apologize to the masta.
Excellent and also it's obvious that Square Enix is regretting taking Sony's money with the commercial failures of FFXVI/FF7Rebirth and are more willing to partner up with other companies that offer more money/sales.
I fully expect SE to break the contract with Sony and release Part 3 of the FF7 remake trilogy on Day 1 on PS/Xbox/PC/Switch 2 with the Switch 2 being the main platform for it to be developed on and than ported down/over to PS/PC/Xbox.
I also expect MS to start buying up the marketing rights on the FF franchise now with possible Day 1 game pass deals.
This news is great as exclusives are wrong and all games should be released on as many platforms as possible. Hopefully Sony will follow MS lead and release all their games Day 1 on PS/Xbox/PC/Switch.
They said on their financials that 16 had a strong performance. So I think you are just interpreting things here without any proof.
“… with possible Day 1 game pass deals.”
They wanna sell more copies, not go outta business.
No, go in order and do 8 first. 9 fans like to rewrite history and think 9 is more popular than it was. Just because you have the loudest fans doesn't mean you're the majority. 9 sold terribly in comparison to 7, 8, and X.
Because 9 released at the wrong time. 9 is still the better game by a long shot. So 9 first
This will simply kill AA games while focusing on high budget AAA games, which are not performing well, I don't know what this place's obsession with imagining that FFVII rebirth and XVI performed well, but they simply didn't, and then you have the likes of forspoken etc, Square is not understanding that their decline started with enix and them switching their formulas, what they are trying to do here is pull a Capcom, but Capcom returned to repair the damage they did with their series while Square is just digging deeper
So you want more games like Valkyrie alysium, Diofield, harvestella, left alive that bomb sales wise?
It's like saying you want Capcom to make more AA exoprimal type games and make less Resident Evil game...
How about games like the ones you mentioned but actually good, how about that?
No not at all, it's like saying Capcom makes good Resident Evil games and good Ace Attorney/Okami games!
That's what they say they are going to do. Less spreading out funding to too many games, outsourcing development to outside developers and not make FF tactics games like diofield and just make a FF tactics game. You can't just make a game good by waiving a wand like you seem to believe...
It's not going to kill AA games but there will be less due only going with in house development.
And the last ace attorney was in 2017 and there have just been compilation remasters done recently. Same with okami as okamiden was released on the DS. Are you saying you want Square to concentrate on remasters and AA remakes?
No that's not what they are saying they recently said they will reallocate resources from HD remasters, and you just made up that they are making FF tactics, Square have said multiple times about their focus on AAA games and that's the trajectory of all big compajies, look at Sony and Microsoft, Square is clearly following that same trend!
2017 is not that far away for a series that was never in English unlike most Square games and Kunitsu Gami is a evolution from Okami, I am not saying Capcom is a saint, I despise things they do as much as the next guy, yet these two companies are now in the same approach, Capcom is trying but Square isn't
It'll be on pc but Xbox wouldn't have moved the needle. It's more the ps5 install base isn't as large as ps4s
Another Xbox fanboy that want the games on his platform, but doesn't realize that putting said games on Xbox wouldn't help move the needle.
If FF16 and FF7R are considered failures, putting them on Xbox wouldn't have helped at all, since Xbox just doesn't matter anymore.
The report does not say anything about being more multiplatform especially not in the way the article is implying which is to say that it's about Final Fantasy 16 and 7R.
It's ridiculous that this site is making up something which we all know is just an attempt to bump xbox.
The fact of the matter is that 95% of Square Enix games are already multiplatform, and games that are timed exclusive are multiplatform in essence.
The reality is that when PlayStation and Switch, PC are selling 95+% of the copies of SquareEnix games xbox is not even relevant. The fact is more games are skipping xbox that ever before not more moving to the platform.
Where are all the articles blaming SquareEnixs losses on the unsuccessful port of Final Fantasy 14?
P. 9 of the report
https://tdnet-pdf.kabutan.j...
"Shift to a multiplatform strategy
For HD titles, the Group will aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo
platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs. Especially, in regards to major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles, it will build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles"
Read again: Especially, in regards to major franchises and AAA titles
I guess Square has not received the memo about YOUR reality.
Pardon me, I didn't see this, I thought it was referring to the previous statement.
But still I reiterate my other points.
In the HD (High-Definition) sub-segment, consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024
---->increased<--- compared with the previous fiscal year due to the release of titles including
---->“FINAL FANTASYXVI,”<------ “FINAL FANTASY PIXEL REMASTER,” “DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince,” and ----->“FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH.”<------
In the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) Game sub-segment, net sales and ---->profits declined<---- compared with the previous year.
I'd also like to point out that according to the wiki SquareEnix has release 54 games since 2020 only 5 games were either exclusive or timed exclusive to PlayStation.
refer to this yeah: "It's ridiculous that this site is making up something which we all know is just an attempt to bump xbox. "
Shows how deep in the hole you are, that anything that doesn't fit your narrative, you play off as xbox bumps.
The interesting thing here is noting that Final Fantasy sales were in decline with FF15 already, yet it was one of the best selling games in the series with five million at launch and ten million lifetime. Almost 80% of sales were on PS4, meaning Xbox was a small market for the game. The game also released in 2016, three years into the generation where PS3 had been left behind.
In present day, Final Fantasy 16 sold 3 million at launch and was exclusive to PS5 after three years of cross-gen releases, which further slowed console adoption. I'm betting cross-gen is the likely problem here as Final Fantasy has historically always sold well on PlayStation, but the series has also seen a bit of a fall which was admitted by Square Enix.
Rebirth, even weirder story with Remake being on both platforms and one game being split into three. Fact is both Final Fantasy 16 and Rebirth are super high quality games, but there's more at play here.
Multiplatform is not going to change much, since so little sales were on Xbox for this series.
AKA Playstation will lose exclusives from Squaresoft.
Common sense says didn't work well for them.
Well, I hope this strategy works for them. It’d be a sad world with them out of it.
Lmao again just like I said they should do months ago…. Naturally to disagrees. Been a great month to keep be proven right lol.
I don't get it... Doesn't the cash from Sony to help develop the game and keep it exclusive not cover the "sales" it would have got from being on Xbox?
Square Enix has been complaining about sales for generations now. Their projections are always head in the clouds. Always wanting more. .
Everyone except Nintendo (maybe they can afford it?) is realizing selling multiplat is the way to go when selling games. Sony with PC, XBOX with PC, PS5, and Switch. The days of exclusive to just one platform are pretty much over this gen with how expensive things cost to make these days.
Was always silly for any 3rd party developer to go exclusive on any platform with the rising costs of game development these days. The end result is better for all gamers we all get their games now.
Paul Thurrott in a recent episode commented on the on-going Microsoft fiasco hinting at more job losses and that "there's more to come".
There won't be no more acquiring game publishers from Microsoft in the future . Xbox has to pay Microsoft back. It might take two decades to do that.
I don’t understand what you’re saying. Xbox IS microsoft so there’s no “paying back “.
And MS gross profit in 2023 was over 140 billion dollars so forget your 2 decades.
Unless you mean the money MS invested in Xbox (acquisitions included) and the time it will take for xbox as a brand to gain that money back on it’s own, then yeah, that could take a while.
The better term to use might be return on investment, xbox is simply a division of Microsoft one that MS can easily do away with if profit margins are not met. So in that regard he's right, if xbox isn't showing the expected return on investment the higher ups are expecting than it's unlikely Microsoft will acquire any other studios any time soon, especially if they are spending billions buying developers just to shut them down in the end.
Xbox is a division that they discussed shutting down but doubled down on after Gamepass was pitched.
It needs to make money at some point. Big money.
According to Statista the net income of Microsoft is about $72.4 billion dollars which is a bit lower than last year profit. That is almost as much as Activision's acquisition but I assume that would be a one off since it costs so much plus I see how their focus has been shifted to AI, thus any major future investments will probably be in that area.
@romulus23
That is not why MS buys studios. They might continue to buy because it's about taking that sweet sweet IP out of the corporate husks of their acquisitions.
“There won't be no more acquiring game publishers from Microsoft in the future”
No bro, there do be is for Microsoft not acquiring for what is now if not what it be is 😂
Let’s be real, this is the media spinning all the acquisitions and liquidations of said developers and spinning it to make M$ the villain.
This was bound to happen, a bigger slice of pie and cut costs, when the games come they stand to make more and that’s their agenda—it was the writing on the wall when the sales went through and legally all those who approved the sale and mergers knew this would happen.
Snowflakes need to realize business is ugly and you can cry all you want but this is how capitalism works. And it works.
That said, M$ needs to steer the narrative and grab hold of all this, make their plans known, hype the hell out of all those dead IP’s they plan to revive, and be honest about the timeline. This is likely to involve mobile and IP on other consoles, and most people realize that.
The problem is this company is incapable of being transparent and seems to often want to dissuade and confuse is customer base. The lack of E3 has hurt Microsoft and I don’t think they know how to properly or effectively market their brand anymore.
There really needs to be a class action lawsuit here. You buy these companies just to put people out of jobs. And it’s not like something happened to derail their plans this WAS the plan. Microsoft has no business in this space at all.
Microsoft has been doing this for years. They simply want the IPs. Look at Nokia. Look at Skype. This time it simply expanded to games. Gaming is not as important to Microsoft’s executives as it was to the founders too. Bill Gates was willing to sell the og Xbox at a loss. Steve Balmer approved the red ring of death fiasco. This CEO isn’t really a gamer.
Maybe it's time though to put a stop to it and use a big giant like Microsoft as a huge example to the rest of these big companies.
There has to be a line drawn somewhere.
People like the FTC and the like went against Microsoft yet their Actvision deal was still allowed to go through yet look what's happened...it's not even Acitivisions studios aswell, it's Bethesdas.
You do realize this happens in ALL industries? Or are you just saying this because it is Microsoft? In any case I feel for those that are being let go but the trch industry is suffering right now.
This absolutely does NOT happen all the time. Let me know the last time 1 company with a terrible product track record spent 100 billion onto acquire MULTIPLE successful companies in under a year only to shut them down and stop making their products regardless of how successful they were. Not merge them, completely shut them down.
And you can’t use Microsoft in your example.
Ninja Theory, Perfect Dark, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Wolfenstein 3, Dishonored, Prey, Doom, Quake... something tells me that bad things are going to happen to these entities under Microsoft.
ID software, the makers of Doom and Wolfenstein that have been with us since 1991 could be gone and MS will keep the IPs.
I hope some of these studios can buy their freedom from MS otherwise this is going to be even more devastating for the industry and gamers.
That's exactly what I'm worried about. I've been a fan of id since Wolfenstein 3D and I'm honestly afraid.
Toys for Bob saw the writing on the wall and bought themselves out.
Wouldn't be the first time a company did that under MS either. Bungie and Twisted Pixel did the same. Considering what just happened, I can see some other devs trying to buy themselves out too.
Won't make a difference.
The whole structure needs to be overhauled. Anyone that replaces Phil will be no different than him, Mattrick, or anyone else.
Until the company changes how they go about business, nothing will change
I just don't have any idea what they would do , they have done sooo much damage on their xbox brand, they have a show at July or June I think, but will it even matter even they show amazing games, idkn
True,
But they may as well get it over with. Whether it happens now or later, the burning is going to hit the same.
Reality is the ONE move that can alleviate a lot of this is the one move they can't make. Remove day 1 from gamepass.
Lose your job and a CEO and other higher ups get a pay raise or a big bonus.
Try bad or even downright dumb business. Calling it "evil" is just ridiculous. Not everything can be evil you just dilute the word.
“Like I said, you spend that much money, you now have a top heavy staff in this part of the company,” Paul said. “Obviously there’s going to be consolidation, that is going to result in job losses.”
This website is dumb. Nobody here knows how business works.
They are a business not a charity to fulfil xbox fans desires. If it's not doing that well they will have to cut back
its just such a shame.
this didnt need to happen but MS couldnt help themselves.
Feels like the Embracer situation, only MS isn't publicly announcing it. Maybe not as dire, but feels like they are making big changes.
I would drop game pass en masse. They don't care about the developers, and they don't care about the franchises. WAKE UP and look what they're doing. You may say a game sucks, but at least with other studios the game was safe from being lost forever.
Think about this. Microsoft has how much disposable income, yet they don't get behind their games to be larger than life. Instead we are getting unfinished downgrades from conception to completion.
It's a battle for monthly subscriptions and the truth is households choose to trim the fat from the home budget
Lockdowns are over my PSN Spotify netflix and Disney subscriptions had to be trimmed as I'm hardly home now so it was Netflix sacrificed,as for 2 gaming subs no damn way
You want £15/month Xbox for what exactly?
Microsoft & Xbox have shut down Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks to lay off more workers, insinuating that they're not in the game anymore.
They're headless for a long time because closing tango isn't exactly a good move
Ever since that cringe Kinect reveal they've never been the same. They used to make some amazing games and do great deals with third parties Early on in the 360 era they had games like Chromehounds and Shadowrun, both well ahead of their time. Now instead of nurturing their studios, they'd rather gaslight gamers and throw billions on pre existing studios. Not sure how Spencer is still in a job, I wouldn't trust him to organise a piss-up in a brewery.
We've said all along Spencer needs to go. I wish xbox went back to xbox only with new gears fable forza halo releases lots of third party releases
Those early rainbow 6 Vegas days and phantasy star universe are gone forever
MS has its head in the game but the game they are playing is something different from what console gamers expect from a platform. MS’s end game has always been to use the xbox as a trojan horse.
“Acquisitions always come with cuts”
343 trillion points shield activated
343 trillion percent damage negate activated
All damage reduced to 1 for 343 trillion turns.
MICROSOFT DEFENSE FORCE IS A GO
Especially for Microsoft, when Booty pretty much said they didn't know how to handle that many studios.
Why even make the acquisition then.
Didn’t they make the swipe for Bethesda when Sony wanted like 6 months exclusiveness for Starfield
It’s like…chill, you got Rise of the Tomb Raider for a year.
Do they always come with senseless cuts becasue that's exactly what cutting Tango was, senseless.
Everyone's acting now that game companies care about games and Xbox is committing the Ultimate betrayal, they are all like this and you have just been quiet about it for far too long
I wonder if Microsoft do pull out of the console market that it might open the door for valve to relaunch the Steambox. Competition is good for the industry but Microsoft don't even seem to be trying anymore.
Steam / Valve are one of the few truly pro-consumer bright spots in gaming right now. Thankfully.
From all the money Valve make from Steam they reinvest almost 0 into creating new AAA titles for the PC platform, Absolutely no giving nothing back in that regard. Wake up.
“Your game has won some pretty significant awards and is a show piece for where we want to go in the future.”
1 hour later.
“We’re gonna have to let you go. You can’t cover our 100 billion dollar acquisition. Oh and take your awards too 👍🏾”
I dont recall a moment outside of the brief beginnings of the Xbox360 where they ever had their head in the game.
And that was the thing which should have stuck all this time
Unfortunately, Xbox died after 360
Not to mention the advent of Pay for Online and Gamepass. Truly the death of gaming
Im fine with subscription services. In fact, thats another good example of how they never had their head in the game.
So far I've had Ubisoft+, PS Premium and GamePass PC. Between the 3, the selection on GamePass has always been the worst. I'm a huge Sci-Fi nerd so Starfield was supposed to be their saving grace. Didn't happen. I say they just give up.
The thing is 'you all' thought they were something they weren't and took that as some kind of truth. Only to find out, 'you all' lied to 'yourselves.'
They never did have their head in the game. Xbox basically has been ran nose first into the ground over the years. And it just keeps getting deeper and deeper nose first into the ground.
Closing Tango was one of the dumbest things they could have done. And Closing Arkane Austin after they were forced to make a game like Redfall just sucks.
This has been the case half way through Xbox 360. Games stopped coming and Kinect became the focus. Then the Xbox One reveal. Many people have been saying this for a long long time and now the rest of the world is now realizing it? It makes no sense that it took this long as the evidence has been there for many years. Xbox fans just wrote it off as Xbox hate but it was denial of the obvious.
I was one of those people standing in line at midnight, in the cold, sick as a dog, waiting to buy Halo 2.
My, how far we've come.
Hope this show hits the ground running because these days Netflix isn't afraid to cancel shit a couple of weeks after release. Before it seemed like everything at least got a second season. Not anymore.