Square Enix reviewing overall game development to improve quality

Square Enix will review its development system to improve the quality of its games, company president Takashi Kiryu has announced.

Kiryu’s comments were made during Square Enix’s latest financial results briefing, Bloomberg reported, during which he indicated a policy of reducing outsourced development and focusing on large-scale games developed in-house, with the aim of boosting both the quality of games and profit margins.

The new system is set to be announced in spring, with multiple sources at the conference call stating it will be in effect in April. That would align with the company’s new financial year.

In the financial report shared, net sales and operating income for Digital Entertainment fell by 2.6 percent year-on-year for the financial year so far (April to 31st December 2023).

Split out, net sales for the HD Game sub-segment rose year-on-year due to the releases of Final Fantasy 16, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series, and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. The MMO sub-segment fell year-on-year, likely as interest in Final Fantasy 14 wanes ahead of the next expansion, Dawntrail.

Interestingly, net sales in the mobile game sub-segment also declined year-on-year, despite the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis.

This is much the same as in the company’s previous financial results in November.

These new comments from Kiryu also align with those made in November, released last month, in which he stated the company needs to diversify its gaming output but also focus on fewer releases.

There were no sales figures for Final Fantasy 16 specifically, although previously the company stated the PS5 exclusive sold 3m copies worldwide in under a week.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches later this month, with likely high sales expectations. That will be followed by Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail in the summer, which could continue the MMO’s status as the most profitable in the series.