Highlights

  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sales have fallen short of expectations, disappointing Square Enix and affecting revenue.
  • Other recent games by Square Enix, such as Final Fantasy 16 and Foamstars, have reportedly underperformed as well.
  • Square Enix is targeting a lower operating income this year as a result, while also shifting its strategy away from console-exclusive games to multi-platform releases.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sales have reportedly fallen short of Square Enix's expectations, dealing a blow to the Japanese publisher's revenue. Being the second game in a planned remake trilogy, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth rolled out on February 29 to widespread acclaim.

Similar to its predecessor, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a PlayStation-exclusive title. On top of that, the action game also received highly favorable reviews, much like the previous entry. However, while Square Enix acknowledged Final Fantasy 16's strong sales early on, the publisher has apparently admitted that the sequel isn't taking similar strides.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Zach Fair
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According to Bloomberg, Square Enix President Takashi Kiryu revealed that the publisher's recent games, such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 16, and Foamstars, have poorer sales than expected. Seemingly, these games underperformed in collecting revenue as well as generating profits. The source states that, as a consequence, the Japan-based company is currently targeting an operating income of 40 billion yen this year, which is significantly lower than the average of analyst estimates at 57 billion. Post Kiryu's investor call, Square Enix's shares also reportedly dipped by 16%, marking a new low for the company in the past 13 years.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Low Sales Hit Square Enix

As per Bloomberg reporter Takashi Mochizuki's tweet, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Foamstars both recorded underwhelming sales, which were "short of expectations." It appears that, in both cases, the games couldn't gather enough sales momentum to go on and meet the "internal target." This falls in line with recent rumors of poor performance of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Mochizuki also pointed out that this was unlike the previous Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy 16, which had a favorable sales performance at the start. However, he added that a slowdown led to last year's Final Fantasy game eventually missing out on its fiscal target.

Unfortunately, poor financial results have hurt Square Enix over the past few years, where its games have consistently missed internal sales targets. The losses have even prompted the publisher to cancel certain projects and undergo restructuring, the latter of which may soon translate into layoffs at Square Enix's US and EU offices.

Luckily for the fans, Square Enix has been making moves to maximize its revenue and will now opt for a multi-platform strategy for AAA games. In other words, fans can expect to see Final Fantasy and more Square Enix games land on multiple platforms, such as PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo.