FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH and FINAL FANTASY XVI, two of the latest games in Square Enix’s long-running and critically acclaimed series of action role-playing video games, have failed to meet sales expectations, according to new comments that Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu had shared at a financial results briefing that was held earlier this year. The news comes on the heels of a new video that shows what FFVII REBIRTH will look like running on Sony’s new $699.99 console, the PS5 Pro, with comparisons alluding to higher visual quality at 60 FPS.
Kiryu said:
- “Comparing the past three years of consolidated results, we note that FY2024/3 net sales came in second to those of FY2022/3.”
- “Operating income and net income were at their lowest in the three years, however, mainly due to our booking of content production account impairment losses.”
- “In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as FINAL FANTASY XVI and FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations.”
- “Net sales in the MMO and Games for Smart Devices/PC Browser sub-segments were lower than in the previous fiscal year.”
- “Despite the release of FOAMSTARS and FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH in Q4, initial sales were not as strong as expected, in addition to which an impairment was made to the content production account, resulting in the operating loss.”
A new FFVII REBIRTH PS5 Pro vs. PS5 comparison:
Digital Foundry writes:
…the PS5 Pro footage we’ve seen has generally concentrated on games that already looked great on the standard PlayStation 5. But what about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth with its contentious, blurred 60fps performance mode? Based on footage seen here, we’re looking at a 60fps presentation that’s a huge improvement over the standard PS5 and irons out its performance drops. And in some respects, the footage suggests that Pro at 60fps even has advantages over the base machine in its 30fps quality mode.