Forspoken may be available at a substantial discount soon. In a new financial results presentation, Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda (who’s reportedly stepping down from the company in June) revealed that sales of the new fantasy RPG starring Ella Balinska have been disappointing, describing them as “lackluster” following “challenging” reviews. Matsuda suggested that the project hasn’t been a total loss, however, having earned praise for some of its novel gameplay mechanics (e.g., magic-infused parkour), which the executive believes might strengthen its future games. Featuring a soundtrack by Bear McCreary (God of War) and Garry Schyman (BioShock), Forspoken is currently listed on Steam for $69.99.
From a Square Enix financial results briefing:
[…] I would like to discuss our outlook for 4Q FY2023/3 and for the upcoming fiscal year (“FY2024/3”).
Reviews of “FORSPOKEN,” which we released on January 24, 2023, have been challenging. However, the game has also received positive feedback on its action features, including its parkour and combat capabilities, so it has yielded results that will lead to improvement of our development capabilities of other games in the future. That said, its sales have been lackluster, and while the performance of new titles with February and March release dates will be the ultimate determinant, we see considerable downside risk to our FY2023/3 earnings.
At our IH FY2023/3 Financial Results Briefing session, I stated that we were designating FY2023/3 as a year in which to lay the foundations that will enable us to achieve our medium-term objectives, but that we nonetheless intended to pursue YoY growth in sales and profits. In light of current conditions, however, I have to admit that this will not be easy.
Meanwhile, our pipeline for FY2024/3 and beyond is extremely strong, including some titles that we have yet to announce. In addition, we believe that the overhauls of our development and publishing structures will for the most part be completed during the remainder of FY2023/3. FY2024/3 is the final year of our current medium-term plan, and to end the plan on the best possible note, we are steadily putting into place a structure that will enable further growth. Please look forward to future developments.
Discussion (8 replies)
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I just checked the US Steam store listing and it was $69.99. You're looking at the Digital Deluxe Edition, which is $94.99 here.
Oh, the bog standard version is also €79.99 in the EU.
Wouldn't sell even if it was a good game.
Apparently the game itself is "lackluster". I saw only warning signs before release, reviews were worse.
When your biggest selling point is "levels load in seconds!", your game is in trouble.
:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
I want to say that I have nothing against the game. The premise reminded me of HZD with a twist and I'd be into that. However, the graphics reminded me of a console mashup of effects that didn't feel quite right. The same goes for the game design in that it was like Monster Hunter meets, again, HZD, and after trying Monster Hunter: World I've got no interest in anything like that. Nothing after its release has made me think otherwise. I know MH is a huge franchise but just because it is doesn't mean this was ever going to be a good idea. I think, in-house, there were those trying to sell it with visuals to keep it funded while the game never really got an identity to call its own.
Meanwhile, Square Enix has consistently shown it no longer even gets how to do a single-player campaign game as it turned its focus to blockchain games and other monetization. I'm glad Eidos M. is separated from them and I hope the best for them. Even if their games haven't been huge successes I've enjoyed a lot of them and am looking forward to whatever comes next.
I'm in this boat. When I saw the first trailer, I was thinking it could be great. It had the HZD vibe, and I loved HZD (although haven't played the second yet).
But yeah, as more info started to come out, it looked like it was all glitz and no game. Tried the demo and it was ... not engaging at all.
I tried the demo on a lark and within 15 minutes of playing the protagonist and the bracelet had annoyed me way too much. What little there was to the combat in that tutorial at the beginning wasn't interesting at all. There have been many comments about how the combat system doesn't really come into its own until much later in the game and that's a huge red flag. It doesn't matter how much fun the combat may be at the end of the game, if it's not fun from the beginning it's going to fail.
The best comment about the game I've read that I think describes the game best is: Forspoken is Horizon: Zero Dawn if Horizon: Zero Dawn had a bad main character, wasn't fun and had worse graphics.