Square Enix Holdings Co. (OTC:SQNXF) admitted that Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth did not meet commercial expectations, revealing the financial struggles in a briefing held on May 13, now publicly released on Sept. 18.

According to IGN, company president Takashi Kiryu stated: "In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations."

Both games launched as PlayStation 5 exclusives within eight months of each other, with Final Fantasy 16 released in June 2023 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in February 2024.

While Final Fantasy 16 sales figures have been shared, no data has been released for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second entry in the remake trilogy. Kiryu suggested that releasing the two games in such close proximity may have cannibalized their sales.

Square Enix's New Strategy

To address the shortfall, Square Enix has announced plans to diversify its platforms. Kiryu revealed Final Fantasy 16 recently launched on PC, with Xbox and Nintendo also considered for future titles.

However, he noted careful curation of the company's release schedule was crucial to avoiding internal competition between games. "We believe we will be able to exercise some degree of control over that volatility by carefully curating our pipeline over the next three years," Kiryu said.

Beyond Final Fantasy, other games such as Foamstars have struggled, but the company is betting on upcoming projects like Kingdom Hearts 4 and Dragon Quest 12.

• Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy 16 PC Release Date And Pricing

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