Square Enix cancelled 80 video games in less than two years – the publisher’s mobile games are considered an absolute slaughterhouse…

Despite being one of the biggest players in the industry, Square Enix has discontinued more than 80 mobile games in recent years. It’s an actual slaughterhouse and proves the Japanese company’s radical change of direction.

Appointed in June 2023, Takashi Kiryu, the new CEO of Square Enix, decided to completely change the company’s policies after poor results.

The goal is pretty much to focus on quality over quantity from now on. They would build on solid AAA productions from the many franchises in the catalogue, such as the Final Fantasy games. Smaller titles will be the subject of a separate study to determine their potential. On the other hand, mobile games are no longer a priority. This is easy to understand after publishing some figures.

Video game translator Jérémie Kermarrec brought today’s news to our attention. He is also known for running the Final Fantasy fan site Final Fantasy World. He shared a tweet from a Japanese investor listing all the Square Enix mobile games released in recent years. The result is instructive. What is described as a “cemetery” reveals that the servers of around forty games have been shut down less than a year after their release. Another forty games received the same treatment within two years of their release.

All told, that’s nearly 80 games that were deactivated less than two years after their release. So many projects were abandoned because of a self-serving policy that did not bear fruit.

Square Enix’s policy has had disastrous results

This list is the result of Square Enix’s policy in the 2010s. The latter multiplied the number of free-to-play mobile games based on historical licenses. He did all this in the hope that at least some of them would turn out to be profitable. Unfortunately, the result was the cancellation of nearly eighty games. Plus, the loss of many developers who were out of a job overnight.

This is a real tragedy when you consider that there is no guarantee that the devices will stay in conversation, and once the servers go offline, the games are lost forever. In light of this, it’s easy to understand why SE’s new CEO has decided to change its mobile gaming policy. However, there is a good chance that none of this will threaten AAA titles, such as the Final Fantasy VII remake series.

Source: Final Fantasy World, X

Fascinant cimetière des jeux mobiles free to play de Square Enix qui ont été déconnectés définitivement. Une quarantaine a été débranchée moins d'un an après leur lancement, une autre quarantaine moins de 2 ans après. Tout ça pour qu'une poignée seulement réussisse. Quel gâchis. https://t.co/epg4LG26Sj

— Jérémie Kermarrec (@jkermarrec) May 19, 2024