Company’s biggest recent releases proved unable to meet targets
Despite each game clearing at least a million sales, Square Enix has revealed Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs all failed to meet their targets. This news comes on the same day the company projected a 13 billion yen loss and saw its president resign.
Sleeping Dogs has sold an estimated 1.75 million copies to day, followed by Tomb Raider at 3.4 million and Hitman at 3.6 million. Square Enix blames these “slows sales” in part for its “extraordinary” financial losses this year.
The company particularly points its finger at the North American market, claiming an “ineffective” sales force compared to Europe, where games performed two-thirds better. Another alleged problem is “price pressure,” forcing Square Enix to spend more on such things as “price protection.”
The publisher’s report is yet more evidence of the so-called “AAA” market’s downward spiral, where you can’t even be considered a success in the face of selling millions of copies. This, along with Resident Evil 6 “failing” in spite of nearly five million sales and Dead Space 3 needing “five million” to survive, points to a market that’s crashing and burning.
Mainstream videogames have officially gone wrong.
Published: Mar 26, 2013 12:15 pm