Bloomberg: Final Fantasy 16 Sales Didn't Meet Square Enix's High Expectations

The company's shares dropped the lowest in the last three years. 

Final Fantasy is a franchise beloved by many with each installment getting its fair share of fans. However, the latest Final Fantasy 16 game released in June has not brought Square Enix the profit it wanted. Moreover, its shares dropped to the lowest it had seen in almost three years.

Square Enix published its financial report last week, revealing a 78.5% decline in operating profit, which caused its stock to fall 15% in Tokyo on Monday.

Final Fantasy 16 couldn't salvage the situation. According to Bloomberg's sources, Square Enix President Takashi Kiryu said the title did not meet the high end of the company’s expectations. Part of the reason is the slow adoption of PlayStation 5, Kiryu reportedly said. Now the hardware components are more easily obtained, so the company plans to try to boost sales as more people use the PS5.

The fact that FF16 was released as a PS5 exclusive, with or without supply constraints, probably didn't help the sales. All I have to say is you might want to wait to sell Square Enix's shares if you have any.

Interestingly, in July, Square Enix said Final Fantasy 16 sales were "extremely strong", with 3 million copies sold in the first week.

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Published 07 August 2023
Gloria Levine
Senior Editor