Square Enix says monetization and free-to-play models have diversified the game market but new releases tend to be considered a success or a failure due to how many major titles there are.
In its latest earnings report, Square Enix explained: "As a result of digitization and other technological advances, consumer game content is increasingly sold via downloads rather than physical packages.
"Monetization methods such as free-to-play, microtransactions, and subscriptions have also given rise to a greater diversity of business models outside the confines of traditional one-off sales."
"As such, the consumer game market continues to grow," Square Enix continued. "New releases tend to be met with either marked success or marked failure as players throng to a handful of major titles."
Square Enix launched Forspoken in January 2023, but despite the AAA title being labeled a major title for the publisher, the game didn't perform well for the company. Square Enix’s president and representative director Yosuke Matsuda called the sales "lackluster" in its February 2023 financial report and said that there was “considerable downside risk to our FY2023/3 earnings”.
For more, check out our list of the best RPGs as well as our list of every upcoming game releasing for PC and console in 2024.
