Forspoken was one of those games that was controversial and seemed a bit half-baked: there was a lot to like and a lot of ideas, but ultimately it left many players unsatisfied and feeling like the whole thing didn't come together (opens in new tab). Unfortunately, due to the game's poor reception, the developer, Luminous, quickly disappeared (opens in new tab) and was absorbed by a larger organization, Square Enix, and a new financial presentation by the publisher reveals why.

"Forspoken [...] s reviews were harsh," Square Enix said in the presentation (opens in new tab) (via Eurogamer (opens in new tab)). However, we did receive positive feedback on the action aspects of the game, including parkour and combat, and we were able to obtain results that will help us improve our development of other games in the future."

Yeah, I don't think Forspoken 2 will happen either. And all of the above merely sets the stage for the main problem: Forspoken's "lackluster sales," along with the underperformance of its other titles, set the stage for Square Enix to "see considerable downside risk to its FY2023 results." Atsushi Matsuda, the publisher's chief accounting officer, believes that meeting the relatively modest targets for this fiscal year "will not be easy."

Matsuda further noted that "many of the new small and medium-sized titles we introduced this year did not do as well as we had hoped."

Along with Forspoken, games of particular note here would be Babylon's Fall, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins, Tactics Ooga Reborn, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, and Octopath Traveler 2. Clearly, the success of titles like "Octopath Traveler 2" will be measured on a different scale than, say, mainline Final Fantasy, but Square Enix's 2022-23 titles seem to have landed few so far.

The publisher's hopes for the remainder of 2023 rest on the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 16 (June 22), but given the Final Fantasy 15 debacle, one should expect nothing but exquisite detail in Ramen. Also troubling for investors is that Square Enix is simultaneously worried about getting more deeply involved in dubious Web3 shenanigans like blockchain and NFT (opens in new tab). Sad times, but no worries. 'Final Fantasy Tactics' will save us all (opens in new tab).