Final Fantasy XVI blamed for major Square Enix loss

At the time of Final Fantasy XVI's launch, you'd think there wasn't a single game coming out for the rest of the year. Square Enix put its everything into promoting the title, but it might've cost it dearly.

Even though fans are more automatically allured to the news of the second part of Final Fantasy 7's remake, the latest game in the series seemed to bag a lot of players who remained gripped until its credits rolled.

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy XVI wasn't the success that Square Enix wanted, as it has seemingly led to some pretty big financial losses for the company and a downward turn for the acclaimed developer. 

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FF XVI has made Square Enix a loss

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The gaming powerhouse must have had some pretty lofty expectations, but according to a new report from Bloomberg (via GamesIndustry.biz), Final Fantasy XVI wasn't the banger that Square Enix hoped it would be.

Since June 20, Square Enix's share price has fallen 28%. That's conveniently timed for just two days before Final Fantasy 16 launched. This doesn't necessarily mean that the game itself was a financial failure, but there may have been other factors that dragged the company down.

For all of its sales, Final Fantasy XVI simply couldn't make enough of an impact to slow the intensity of Square Enix's drop. It seems similar to the launch of Marvel's Avengers, which was a game that performed well in its first week but still made a $63 million loss for Square Enix.

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Final Fantasy XVI failed, but it failed well

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Many feel that it's unfair to put the blame on the shoulders of Final Fantasy XVI for the financial downfalls of Square Enix, as the game itself actually did pretty well...even if it didn't meet expectations.

Final Fantasy XVI turned out a pretty whopping three million sales in its first week, which beat out some big first-party titles like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. There's a lot of money pumped into Final Fantasy - but something is keeping it from helping Square Enix in any meaningful way.