Square Enix had high hopes for the launch of Forspoken, but judging by the first numbers, it’s not looking too good. After all, you still get a patch for the game.
Forspoken was certainly one of the high hopes for Square Enix early in the gaming year 2023, or their own fiscal year ending March 31st. However, the reception from critics and players was mixed, with a PC version that left a few technical wishes unfulfilled.
Square-Enix President Yosuke Matsuda, who will be leaving office in June, has now confirmed that sales are far below expectations. While praising some of the game elements that were also well-received by fans, “nevertheless, sales have been weak and while the performance of the new titles with February and March release dates will ultimately be the deciding factor, we see significant downside risk for our FY2023/3 -Results.”
Organizationally, the publisher has already reacted to the flop and has already integrated the development studio Luminous Productions back into Square Enix – or dissolved it, depending on how you interpret it.
Matsuda also spoke of a decline in net sales in the HD Games sub-segment compared to the previous year. While last year’s “big title releases were challenging,” he revealed that “many of the new small and mid-sized titles we’ve launched this year haven’t performed as well as we expected. ” These should include the numerous titles released in autumn/winter such as The DioField Chronicle, Valkyrie Elysium, Harvestella, Star Ocean: The Divine Force, Dragon Quest Treasures and others.
After all, the work on Forspoken is not finished, after all there is still a DLC and a stack of primarily technical problems in the room. An update with version 1.10 has now been released and is intended, among other things, to significantly improve performance on the PC – we are talking about up to 30 percent. There are also a few features like an extended target lock, the ability for Frey to no longer damage herself with her own magic, and a bunch of visual overhauls, most notably in lighting and ambient occlusion.
More updates are said to be in the works, as well as the In Tanta We Trust DLC announced for summer.
Square Enix’s action-RPG hopeful Forspoken is out January 24; the launch trailer is available in advance for you to get in the mood.
