As the video game industry suffers a lot of losses this year with an alarming number of layoffs, companies are doing everything they can to not lose more money. Square Enix has just reported “content abandonment losses” with a record-breaking number; this means that the Japanese company lost more than 140 million dollars for cancelled projects.
This could potentially impact games such as the third installment of the Final Fantasy 7 remake. At the moment, the plan continues, but this development has cost a lot more than the studio was expecting.
Final Fantasy 7 Part 3 Could be in a Very Complicated Place
The industry is currently in a unique position, with everyone struggling to find their footing following the recent wave of layoffs. The studios are trying to figure out the players’ tastes to invest in new projects that could be a hit, or at least recover the investment. Square Enix has just revealed a new report with some details about losses and earnings, describing one of these items as “content abandonment losses.”
This report discusses the company’s fiscal year, which ended last month. “Content abandonment losses” refer to the money invested in cancelled projects that didn’t go through; this could mean that games that were in development could have been cancelled without notice to avoid more losses in the future. This could include games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3, the last part of this trilogy.
Square Enix Really Trying to Make the Best Decision Possible
The company reported that these abandonment losses were more than 140 million dollars, and Square Enix has already confirmed that these Final Fantasy 7 Remake games are underperforming regarding sales, so the third installment could be in danger. With all that is happening, studios are being more cautious than ever to avoid losses or bad projects that ended up in bad sales.
On X, fans expressed their hope that games like Dragon Quest or other HD titles would remain unaffected. They pointed out that the majority of the studio’s non-functioning games are original IPs, unrelated to Final Fantasy. In the past, many games released by the company had atrocious launches with games that sold almost nothing. Final Fantasy is one of the strongest franchises that Square Enix has.
Rebirth, the second part of this trilogy, has already been reportedly underperformed compared to the first entry. Another factor to keep in mind is that the first game was originally sold for the PS4, which has sold millions of consoles. It appears that these remakes are becoming very expensive for the studio; the only way to make more sales is to sell the IP on more platforms, but the company has a deal with PlayStation.
What are your thoughts about this move from Square? Let us know in the comments!
