One of Square Enix’s next games seems to be off to a bad start, but the publisher refuses to give up on the release and production is taking a new turn.
Square Enix’s financial results are not positive. At the last meeting on March 27, 2024, the publisher informed its investors of a loss of 22.1 billion yen, or around $140.8 million. This announcement in itself was not a surprise, as before announcing the news, the company had pointed out that sales of its mobile games were declining and that the MMO category was also not at the top. And this despite the enormous success of FF14. To change this, the company wants to be more careful in selecting its future projects.
Square Enix is not turning away from Project Gemini
Following this financial loss, Square Enix announced a new strategic course. From now on, the publisher wants to avoid excessive spending by carefully distributing the funds allocated to future games in order to achieve greater profitability. Previously, the Japanese company also stated that it wants to continue pushing AAA, even if Dragon Quest 3 Remake is scheduled for release on November 14, 2024. Given the plans outlined by Square Enix, there is no reason to worry about the Final Fantasy license, and elsewhere, FF7 Remake 3 is still in development.
However, things have been heating up for Project Gemini for some time now. One of the secret games from People Can Fly, developers of the looter shooter Outriders, already published by Square Enix at the time. A title that unfortunately failed to bring together a real community, but which, according to the group’s former president, sold well. Enough to order Outriders 2 from People Can Fly, which would respond internally to the code name Project Gemini? It’s a hypothesis, but we still have no certainty about the nature of the game.
What we do know is that the studio has unfortunately laid off around fifty people who were working on it. Project Gemini was even temporarily suspended last year, but People Can Fly and Square Enix came to an agreement. In a press release, the studio states that it has negotiated a new contract amendment for further development. Good news? For the teams, yes, because at least there is no complete cancellation. It remains to be seen how Project Gemini will develop in the coming months, as it is not expected to be available before 2026.
