For the past two and a half months, the value of Square Enix shares has been declining almost continuously. As Bloomberg noted, since the end of June, it has fallen by 30%, as a result of which the capitalization of the Japanese publisher has decreased by $ 2 billion.
The publication notes that during this period, the company’s shares fell seriously twice: shortly after the release of Final Fantasy XVI in June and after the publication of the quarterly report in August. According to experts interviewed by Bloomberg, the reason was an 80% drop in profits, insufficiently high sales of the game and, in general, Square Enix’s approach to development.
Bloomberg sources claim that Square Enix has given producers too much freedom of action, and they can determine the scale and direction of the games themselves. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the company does not maintain game documentation well. Because of this, the titles are different in quality, and the releases of some of them, like Marvel’s Avengers and Forspoken, end in failure.
Recently, the head of Square Enix Takashi Kiryu (Takashi Kiryu) said that the company will reduce the production of small games and focus on large-budget titles. This will help increase sales. But analysts doubt that the change will have the desired effect if Square Enix does not revise internal processes.