With the release of Octopath Traveler and its incredible success on Switch, the expectations for Square Enix’s financial reports were high—but according to the latest data, revealed by Games Industry, the Japanese publisher has actually lost $33 million since their new studio, Luminous Productions, shifted their focus.
Luminous Productions was originally planned as a resource to create “other entertainment content” but this was dropped in favor of focusing on AAA game production. These were to be large scale games with outstanding quality, but the reports show that this change resulted in declines straight across the board for Square Enix. Everything from operating income to net sales and more posted a significant decrease, though some of this has also been linked to poorly performing content on mobile and PC, and less income from licensing projects.
Square Enix’s largest releases during this time were Octopath Traveler and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but it’s unknown whether (and how much) these titles contributed to the situation, as official sales figures are still under wraps.
