Square Enix: Forspoken Sales were ‘Lacklustre’ and its Reception ‘Challenging’

Square Enix has conceded that sales of its action role-playing game Forespoken fell below its expectations following the title’s January 23 release on PlayStation 5 and PC earlier this year.

“Reviews of Forspoken, which we released on January 24, 2023, have been challenging,” said Square Enix’s president and representative director Yosuke Matsuda in a February financial results briefing detailing the fortunes of the past year.

“However, the game has also received positive feedback on its action features, including its parkour and combat capabilities, so it has yielded results that will lead to improvement of our development capabilities of other games in the future.”

Despite this positive note, Matsuda admitted that sales of the game had been “lacklustre”, and that there was “considerable downside risk to our FY2023/3 earnings”. The concession follows an announcement from earlier this month that Forspoken developer Luminous Productions – founded in 2018 – would be folded back into Square Enix effective on May 1.

“Luminous Productions Co. Ltd. is meanwhile equipped not only with AAA title development capabilities but also technical expertise in areas such as game engine development,” said Square Enix following the announcement. “Combining the two entities will further enhance the Group’s ability to develop HD games.”

Prior to being reabsorbed, the developer announced that it would use its remaining time working on a patch to improve the game’s overall performance, and developing the DLC In Tanta We Trust, which is “on track for release this summer”.

Summarising our 6/10 review, IGN said that “Forspoken’s flashy combat and parkour can be fun, but they aren’t enough to make its cliche story and barebones open world very interesting to explore”.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

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