You might set your watch to it by this level. Sq. Enix is claiming a recreation revealed by its western arm has failed to satisfy gross sales expectations. This time it is Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on the chopping block. In a newly published outline of a monetary outcomes briefing, consultant director Yosuke Matsuda stated that “regardless of sturdy opinions”, gross sales of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy “undershot our preliminary expectations.”
It is an unsurprising assertion from a writer for whom “undershot expectations” seems to have turn into its motto. Final yr, Sq. Enix called sales of Marvel’s Avengers “disappointing”, following a lukewarm reception to its try at a live-service superhero motion recreation. In 2018, each Just Cause 4 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider acquired the a glance of disapproval, with Matsuda saying Tomb Raider “acquired off to a weak begin”, regardless of selling 4.12 million models as of February 2019, and the sport’s personal builders expressing their happiness with the sport’s efficiency.
Then there was poor outdated Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, gross sales of which had been recognized because the reason for scrapping the rebooted series in favour of recent, Marvel licensed tasks. The exact same tasks Sq. Enix is now saying are failing to satisfy gross sales targets.
It does seem to be there’s a difficulty surrounding Sq. Enix’s western-developed video games. The query is whether or not it is an issue of efficiency, or an issue of expectation. All of the above video games launched towards the tip of the yr, i.e. probably the most aggressive interval within the gaming market. Examine that with Sq. Enix’s remake of Last Fantasy VII, which launched in April on a single platform and offered 3.5 million copies in three days.
Certainly, it seems all of Sq. Enix’s library lives within the shadow of Last Fantasy, notably Last Fantasy 14, which is so standard Sq. Enix needed to temporarily remove it from sale. Matsuda particularly mentions the “substantial development” of FF14’s subscriber base proper after lamenting Guardians’ gross sales figures. Once you’ve acquired a hit like FF14 in your palms, perhaps every little thing else does seem underwhelming by comparability. However maybe it is also unreasonable to count on each recreation to ship that degree of efficiency, particularly these video games launched throughout an more and more crowded vacation window.
Matsuda was admittedly extra optimistic about Guardians of the Galaxy’s future, stating “gross sales initiatives that we kicked off in November 2021 and continued into the brand new yr have resulted in gross sales development, and we intend to work to proceed to broaden gross sales to make up for the title’s gradual begin.”
The Marvel license might not have spun the megabucks that Sq. Enix anticipated, however Guardians of the Galaxy is effectively value your time. Luke Winkie loved its vibrant and characterful journey in his review, and the sport has been patched repeatedly since launch, so hopefully the bugs Luke encountered may have been ironed out by now.
