Square Enix Appears to Have Ended Development on Certain Games to Prioritize Quality and Focus

Square Enix, the company behind last year’s Final Fantasy XVI and this year’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, has seemingly canceled some in-development games, taking on some big losses as a result. As for why, the company is aiming to be more selective about its projects moving forward. 

This news comes from a release related to Square Enix’s holdings, which explains the company is incurring losses of 22.1 billion Yen, or roughly $140 million, on its financial books for the fiscal year that ended in March. 

“At the meeting convened on March 27, 2024, the Board of Directors of Square Enix Holdings voted, in light of the myriad changes underway in the environment surrounding its group, to revise the group’s approach to the development of high-definition (HD) games with the intention of being more selective and focused in the allocation of development resources,” the release reads. “As a result of a close examination, the company expects to recognize approximately 22.1 billion Yen in content abandonment losses on its books for the fiscal year ended March 2024.” 

While potentially canceled games might sound doom and gloom, it sounds more like Square Enix is sharpening its developmental focus to ensure that the games it releases are hits or, at the very least, financially successful for the company. Nonetheless, it sounds like roughly $140 million of games in development have been canceled and it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out what they were. 

This release comes after a big splash from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which Square Enix released in February. Elsehwere in 2024, Square Enix is releasing Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, the new expansion for the MMO that will kick off a new saga for the long-running game, in July. 

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