Square Enix Reveals Plans to Emphasize “Multiplatform Strategy”
A recently released Square Enix financial report that covers the last fiscal year has given us a glimpse at the company’s strategy going forward. Namely, the Final Fantasy publisher aims to emphasize a “multiplatform strategy” by bringing more titles to platforms like Xbox and PC.
The financial report, which was published earlier today, discusses Square Enix’s earnings over the last fiscal year and highlights what their plans are for the near future. Their “management strategy” involves several significant changes to their outlook, including a pointed focus shift from quantity to quality. With an emphasis on making fewer, higher quality games as opposed to just cranking out as many titles as they can, Square Enix hopes to create a more long-lasting library of titles.
However, the real kicker here is the company’s transition to a multiplatform plan. A good portion of Square’s games (specifically the Final Fantasy titles) have been launched exclusively on PlayStation or the Nintendo Switch in the last several years. While these exclusivity deals aren’t uncommon, they seem to have created a problem, as the company is now switching up their strategy.
According to the report, Square Enix plans to “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs.” Specifically, this applies to “major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles.” They’re also looking to rope in Android, iOS, and PC for what they refer to as “SD titles,” which means their lower budget ports, remakes, and simple games.
This strategy will likely pay off big time for Square. The internet’s been very vocal about their disappointment regarding Final Fantasy’s exclusivity in recent years. Bringing the Final Fantasy 7 reboot games and Final Fantasy 16 to Xbox and PC would surely boost sales and give them a second life, something that’s probably paramount to the company given their unusually high standards for what they consider a “successful” game sales-wise.
It looks like this change in approach is also a response to the growing cost of development for Square’s “HD titles.” Near the beginning of the report, the company noted that despite titles like Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth selling more units overall than the prior year’s HD games, “operating losses grew due to higher development cost amortization and advertising expenses, as well as higher content valuation losses versus the previous fiscal year.” With these games now costing more than ever to produce, Square Enix is likely hoping to offset the multi-million-dollar development expenditures with increased revenue from sales across all major platforms.
We hope to see Square continue to flourish and put out great titles (though their stance on AI implementation has us a little worried). As long as they keep making masterpieces like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, they should be okay.
[Source: Kabutan (thanks, Genki!)]
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