Lack of Games Might Trouble Square Enix In 2025

Squire Enix published several lesser AA games in 2024 and 2023 that didn't require enough development budget, time, and effort for marketing. The two AAA entries were Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, both of which were released within a year gap, something we haven't seen launching this close together in a long time. But if we look forward to 2025, Squire Enix doesn't have any of its mainline entries releasing next year.

According to Square Enix's release calendar, just two of their scheduled games for 2025 have a confirmed release date: the PC port of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake, with the remaining titles on the list now marked as to be announced. The top two AA games on this list are Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate and Kingdom Hearts IV, and it is quite improbable that either of these games will be released in 2025.

Following that, they're releasing Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link, a mobile game that is coming out at an ideal time to keep Kingdom Hearts fans interested until KH4 is released. But this isn't big enough for the Kingdom Hearts fans were hoping for. However, we believe that Dragon Quest XII is a long way off. While we may see a teaser and new content materials for the game, an actual marketing campaign for the game's release in 2025 or next year is likely. Dragon Quest XII is planned to be a late-generation game, and all we know about it is its logo with gameplay data.

This means that Square Enix will have a barren year in 2025 and is likely to suffer from a lack of new content and mainline releases. Of course, this all relates to the sales projections for Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth since neither of these titles met their sales objectives. We know that Square Enix laid off some employees, but they also stated in May that a number of games would be canceled. These games were defined as ones that did not fit within their new development plan.

Square Enix's output from this generation has actually been somewhat wild. There hasn't been a scarcity of games. They've launched so many AA games; instead of doing all those AA games, if they had developed one major AAA game for the budget of all of them, with high-strategy marketing efforts, this would have been more beneficial for them. Their new CEO, Takashi Kiryu, stated that their first focus will be developing games of great quality that their fans like playing, which will lead to good reviews and sales.

They are calling this new development strategy; Square Enix Reboots and Awakens, which the company describes as a shift from quantity to quality. In a report published by them, they mentioned that "Square Enix hopes to focus on developing games that deliver fun that only the group can create, while also regularly releasing AAA Titles in its major franchises to maintain and build upon its fan base. Combine this with the company's plans to focus on quality over quantity."

Takashi Kiryu wants Square Enix to develop fewer games overall but more high-quality games. However, the question is whether they can sustain the scarcity of games, which will eventually lead to less revenue for the company. While they closed down several projects this year that had over $140 million in investment, it'll surely be challenging for them to survive a year without any major releases to generate enough revenue.