Throughout the previous two years, Ultimate Fantasy followers have been handled to 2 main releases within the franchise that had been met with important acclaim. However in response to Sq. Enix, Ultimate Fantasy 16 and Ultimate Fantasy 7 Rebirth have each didn’t stay as much as the corporate’s gross sales expectations.
Through IGN, Sq. Enix disclosed the disappointing outcomes throughout a monetary outcomes briefing in Might, however the firm solely launched the knowledge as we speak. No gross sales figures for the video games had been offered, nor did the report state how distant the 2 titles had been from Sq. Enix’s projections.
Sq. Enix president and consultant director Takashi Kiryu prompt that there might have been “cannibalization between our personal titles” that led to this consequence. Ultimate Fantasy 16 was launched in June 2023, whereas Ultimate Fantasy 7 Rebirth adopted solely eight months later in February 2024. Each titles fell throughout the identical fiscal 12 months for Sq. Enix, which got here to an finish in March 2024.
It is also attainable that the 2 Ultimate Fantasy video games had been at a drawback as a result of they had been solely obtainable on PlayStation 5. Ultimate Fantasy 16 was solely launched on PC earlier this week, whereas Ultimate Fantasy 7 Rebirth stays a PlayStation unique for now.
There is not a simple answer for this downside, particularly since followers and critics alike gave the impression to be very receptive to each titles. With out seeing the precise gross sales numbers, it is tough to find out how dangerous the difficulty actually is. Kiryu indicated that the corporate will probably be “curating our pipeline over the subsequent three years,” presumably to forestall any future cannibalization of gross sales. He additionally promised to proceed to working to enhance Sq. Enix’s profitability.
