Forspoken’s Sales Have Been “Lackluster,” Says Square Enix

Square Enix has released their Outline of Results briefing. The briefing was held on February 3, 2023, roughly a week after Forspoken‘s release.

The briefing has revealed the company’s views regarding games sales, along with their main goals for the ongoing year. Given that the briefing took place just a week after Forspoken, which was released on January 2023, it discusses the game’s performance in sales and the challenging reviews it received after its launch. The company also claimed that Forspoken’s sales have been “lackluster.” 

The briefing also discussed the HD titles released between July 2022 and March 2023. These titles include Octopath Traveler II, Dragon Quest Treasures, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, Harvestella, and Valkarie Elysium. The mentioned games were released between the latter half of 2022 and early 2023. Square Enix said many small and mid-sized games did not perform as expected.

Furthermore, the briefing clarified that MMO titles, including Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X, won’t receive any expansion packs for the duration. Square Enix discussed multiple PC browsers and smart device games. The company revealed the sales chart of digital and packaged games while comparing the statistics with the last two years.

Regarding Forspoken, Square Enix revealed that the reviews have been “challenging” for them. However, they also pointed out the positives from Forspoken’s feedback on its action features and parkour. The company claimed that the positive feedback would further allow the company to improve the development capabilities of other games.

When Yosuke Matsuda, the president and representative director of Square Enix, was asked how Forspoken’s launch could impact 4Q FY2023/3 results, he replied that the answer to that would depend on how sales will trend once they have rolled out some promotional initiatives. Additionally, Yosuke Matsuda is set to leave his position as the president of Square Enix next summer and will be replaced by Takashi Kiryu.

Forspoken’s launch had been devastating. The game received a lot of backlash due to mediocre graphics, dull gameplay, and annoying dialogues. Soon after the game’s release, Luminous Productions, the game’s developing studio, announced they’d merge with Square Enix.