Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 sales ‘did not meet expectations,’ says Square Enix

Square Enix has said that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 both underperformed.

As part of a newly published results briefing, which was originally held in May, the company said that “profits unfortunately did not meet [its] expectations.”

“Despite the release of Foamstars and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in Q4, initial sales were not as strong as expected,” it said.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was released around one month prior to this investor briefing.

All three underperforming games were initially PS5 console exclusives, and as such it could be argued that had they been released on Xbox Series X/S too Square Enix could have generated extra income from them.

In the time since this briefing, Final Fantasy 16 has been released on PC. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth remains exclusive to PS5, but the first entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy was eventually released on PC, so it’s reasonable to expect the sequel to follow.

Elsewhere in the briefing, the company says that it will “shift to a multiplatform strategy”.

“In the case of HD games, we will create a global environment that allows more customers to enjoy our major franchises and AAA titles, including from our back catalogue.”

Foamstars is going free-to-pay next month. The game was previously being sold on the PlayStation Store for $30 / £25.

The director of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake says he’s confident the third part will be one of the greatest video games ever made.

VGC’s review of the second entry, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, calls it “an excellent RPG with some of the best characters in the gaming canon”.

“While some open-world content skirts the edges, and the game’s main narrative is left somewhat deflated, the time spent with Aerith, Tifa, and the gang makes this a hugely enjoyable road trip you’ll be playing for hundreds of hours,” we wrote.