Summary
Square Enixintends to revise its business strategy in order to prioritize multi-platform publishing. The move potentially threatens its strong partnership with Sony, which sawSquare Enixrelease a variety of timed PlayStation console exclusives in recent times.
TheFinal Fantasymaker has been facing a troubling business landscape in the post-pandemic era. This trend is most clearly reflected inSquare Enix’s declining sales, which the company has been reporting on a regular basis since early 2023. Its plummeting revenue continues to take a toll on the group’s bottom line, which has been $96.2 million in the green for the fiscal year that ended on June 23, 2025, marking a 70% drop in profits compared to the previous 12-month period.
Square Enix Announces Multi-Platform Pivot Amid Final Fantasy Series' Decline
Reflecting on this state of affairs in its latestfinancial report, Square Enix said it will “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy” moving forward in a bid to reinvigorate the declining sales of its HD titles. While the specifics of its strategic pivot remain to be announced, the company confirmed it intends to support all major gaming platforms moving forward, including PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo systems, as well as PCs. This multi-platform publishing push will also affect the conglomerate’s smaller-scale projects, with the group saying it plans to develop a new strategy for its SD titles that encompasses both PC and mobile devices.
2010
24 million
1997
14.99 million
1999
12 million
2006
11.3 million
2016
10.27 million
2009
9.6 million
2001
8.96 million
2000
8.9 million
2020
8.74 million
2011
7.2 million
Square Enix’s decision to rethink its platform strategy underlines the company’s continued struggles to maintain the legacy of its flagship offerings, most notably thecritically acclaimedFinal Fantasyseries. Of the top ten best-selling entries in the franchise, only one has been released in the last five years, and only two have hit the market in the past decade. These achievements, or lack thereof, are even more troubling in light of the fact that the number of both PC and console gamers has been on a steady rise throughout the 21st century, indicating that Square Enix has gradually gotten worse at capturing audiences, percentage-wise.
Square Enix’s PlayStation Exclusives May Be Coming to an End
The latest entry in the group’s flagship franchise has reportedly continued that trend, with some industry watchers estimating thatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthsales have been underperformingsince its late February debut. Square Enix’s latest financial report offered no insights into the game’s commercial performance. But its commitment to platform-inclusive publishing does suggest its long-time Sony partnership may be nearing its end. The third entry in theFinal Fantasy 7remake trilogy may hence be the company’s final timed PlayStation exclusive in the foreseeable future, as Sony has already secured it as such.
Simultaneously with this multi-platform publishing push,Square Enix is also looking to overhaul its development practices. That’s according to its February 2024 quarterly report, which saw the company commit to reducing outsourcing and cutting down on its overall number of projects to focus on quality over quantity.
