Gaming IndustryFinal Fantasy 14Final Fantasy 14 is still the load-bearing, reliable breadwinner for Square Enix, even with Dawntrail’s bumpy post-launch receptionWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustryFinal Fantasy 14Final Fantasy 14 is still the load-bearing, reliable breadwinner for Square Enix, even with Dawntrail’s bumpy post-launch receptionWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Square Enix)
A recent set of financial results for the past fiscal year has continued to show that, yes—even with Dawntrail’s mixed, bumpy reception, Final Fantasy 14 (and Dragon Quest 10, to a lesser extent) is still the breadwinner, putting on its little tie and suit before going off to break its back and fund the company’s otherill-advisedprojects andunderperforming AAA games(thanks,Automaton).
You can read thereportyourself, which goes over the first half of the fiscal year 2025 (which’ll confusingly end in March 2025 for Square, but I don’t make the rules) but here’s the summary: While net sales are down, operating income’s up, due in part to “the expansion pack release in the MMO sub-segment”.
The “HD Games” sub-segment, which includes those big mainline releases like Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, was down ¥16.2 billion year-on-year in terms of net sales, while there was a ¥3.6 billion loss in terms of operating income. Meanwhile, the “Games for Smart Devices/PC Browser” sub-segment was down ¥16.2 billion in net sales, with a ¥4.9 billion loss in terms of operating income.
In saunters the MMO sub-segment, presumably wearing a glittering pair of shades and dumping a fat sack of money on the table, which had a ¥8.5 billionincreasein net scales, and an operating year-on-year bump of ¥3.8 billion. The total numbers are also bonkers, too—while that HD games segment actually lost Square Enix ¥1.2 billion, the MMO one raked in ¥13.1 billion in operating income. When it comes to cost-efficiency, Square’s MMOs are doinglapsaround the most recent entries in Final Fantasy.
This confirms a couple of things. Firstly, if Dawntrail’s mixed reception has hurt Square’s bottom line, any, it’s not likely to show in the numbers for the next six months. Secondly, FF14—alongside other MMOs—are still bankrolling the company’s currently-troubled state, which is a bit of a problem for us catboy fans.
As I arguedlate last month, one of FF14’s biggest challenges going forward is going to be properly funding it, and picking up the pace on anotherwise stale formula. While its patch cadence has been mostly solid and reliable these past few years—it’s become so reliable and predictable that it’s starting to feel rote and, pound for pound,isgenuinely slower than its competitors. The good will from the genuinely admirable A Realm Reborn relaunch can’t last forever—and whatever Square is giving Creative Studio 3, the MMO’s development team, it’s clearly not enough. The company’s other projects need to figure out how to produce their own gas, or they’re gonna sink the whole fleet.
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