Final Fantasy XVI hasn’t been performing up to Square Enix’s financial standards. In fact, it was recently revealed that the company’s stock has plummeted by 30% ever since the game was released.
This comes from a report by Bloomberg, which states that the stock price for Square Enix plunged by over 30% from a peak of $26.50 per share on June 21 to $18.18 today. This translates to a loss of nearly $2 billion in value since the launch of Final Fantasy XVI. The new Chief Executive Officer Takashi Kiryu has stated he will start to release a few smaller titles and decrease outsourcing to focus on big-budget games that have higher potential for profit.
However, the financial experts are a bit skeptical regarding this new approach. Tokyo-based industry consultant Serkan Toto mentioned that “Square Enix has problems with their games output. These titles get a 70% rating on Metacritic, are kind of OK, and are just very forgettable.” Meanwhile, developer Michael Prefontaine told Bloomberg that Square Enix “has overstretched itself on too many titles without proper oversight,” citing Marvel’s Avengers, Forspoken, and DioField Chronicle as games that had poor reception.
Bloomberg’s report continues to paint a grim future for Square Enix as the company faced a sharp profit decline in August. Adding to the list of issues is the mobile games that have recently shut down, such as Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. While Takashi’s plan might bear fruit, it appears it could be an uphill battle to bring Square Enix back from financial peril.
