Square Enix Investors Concerned About Game Quality

Investors expressed concern about quality control for games within Square Enix. The news comes after disappointing sales for both Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, causing a $2 billion drop in the company’s value on the stock market. [Thanks, Bloomberg!]

Poor investor confidence in Square Enix games is being blamed on a number of factors. The release of Final Fantasy XVI failed to meet investor expectations, and their concern increased following the financial report announcing that the company was facing reduced profits.

The release of Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis also seemingly failed to meet investor expectations too, despite an announcement that the game reached 5 million downloads. The company’s habit of releasing mobile games, which they then shut down after a year, has been cited as causing a lack of confidence in fans. Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights and Echoes of Mana were mentioned as examples of this.

Investors are blaming a lack of quality control for games within Square Enix. One Tokyo-based developer cited Marvel’s Avengers, Forspoken, and The DioField Chronicle as past examples of poor-quality releases. Employees and contractors for the publisher expressed frustration with many projects being handed to a single producer. This often leads to projects lacking proper documentation and frequent changes to project goals.

Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu attempted to reassure investors by confirming a change in direction. He said he intends for the company to focus on big-budget projects with less outsourcing. However, investors feel that until internal practices are changed to address the concerns of developers, this won’t be enough to improve their fortunes.