It looks like Square Enix has an underperforming game on hand that is Just Cause 4, which shouldn’t come in as a surprise. We know this because during the company’s financial report it is said that initial sales of Just Cause 4 were below expectations. Currently, the game available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One is set to gain more traction moving forward to increase sales via “updates” and “other initiatives.”
The following information coming from Square Enix financial report is nothing shocking. The game often dubbed as a downgraded copy/past job seems to have failed to reach Square Enix’s expectations, which resulted in the company to express the following information:
“Initial sales of Just Cause 4 were below our expectations, but we intend to grow sales in FY2020/3 by offering updates and through other initiatives.”
The above information can be found on hd.square-enix.com, which admits that Just Cause 4 is a bland title that offers nothing new on the sphere of video games, thus losing out to “major titles on the competitive landscape” as explained below:
“We think the main reason is that we were unable to provide an experience that was novel enough that players would choose to buy them before any of the other numerous major titles on the competitive landscape.”
Furthermore, Square Enix also reported that Kingdom Hearts 3 has shipped over 5 million copies, and expects numbers to increase moving forward. Contrary to that news, though, the company’s mobile and browser games — released in the recent quarter — got off to a “lackluster start.”
As for mixed news, we learn that the latest Lara Croft game has gotten off to a “weak start” and will supposedly grow further in Fiscal Year 2020:
“While Shadow of the Tomb Raider got off to a weak start, we had shipped a total of 4.12 million units as of the end of 3Q, and we look for sales to grow further in FY2020/3.”
Lastly, it’s worth noting that Square Enix CEO, Yosuke Matsuda, made mention during the report that a list of game announcements are in place leading up to this year’s E3. In the meantime, we’ll see how Square Enix updates and other initiatives pan out.
