Square Enix Will “Aggressively Pursue a Multiplatform Strategy” in New Medium-Term Business Plan 

Square Enix has announced a new medium-term business plan, going through an upcoming company reboot that includes the push for the release of AAA games multiplatform going forward.

Titled “Square Enix Reboots and Awakens: 3 Years of Foundation-Laying for Long-Term Growth”, this new medium-term business plan covers the fiscal year ending 31 March 2025 through the fiscal year ending 31 March 2027.

According to the plan, it is set to overcome the major challenges the company faced in its previous business period.

“Low profitability in the HD Games sub-segment, a slowdown in the games for Smart Devices and PC Browser sub-segment, insufficient franchise-by-franchise portfolio management, and some gaps in the Group’s management infrastructure” were highlighted as some of the major challenges during that period.

Four key strategies were planned with one involving “strengthening customer contact point”, which will see the publisher “shift to a multiplatform strategy”.

Square Enix will “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs”.

The plan is especially, “in regards to major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles” and by doing so, Square Enix says it “will build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles”.

This new plan appears to suggest that Square Enix may ditch exclusivity going forward and that may include mainline Final Fantasy games which tend to release as PlayStation exclusives or timed exclusives. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the most recent example of the publisher releasing a platform-exclusive AAA title.

The mention of PC is certainly interesting, as there is no doubt a noticeable recent push to release games on PC by Japanese companies as of late. The publisher has also recently revealed that they are putting significant effort into optimizing the PC version of Final Fantasy XVI for its release on the platform.

In the same document, Square Enix also stresses the shift from quantity to quality, with an aim to “launch titles that ensure excitement that will bolster loyalty to our brand, placing top priority on bringing smiles to our customers’ faces”.

The document also reported on the company’s financial performance for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, where the publisher highlighted that there is a significant operating loss of ¥8.1 billion (approximately $51.9 million) in the HD games sub-segment, which encompasses AAA titles such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, FOAMSTARS, and Final Fantasy XVI, just to name a few.

In regards to the HD games sub-segment, Square Enix says it suffered from an “incomplete journey to better profitability” and that it had “launched many titles but some failed to live up to profit expectations, especially outsourced titles and some AAA titles.”

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