Square Enix is selling a lot of its studios and IPs. We reported yesterday that the company is flogging Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and a few others alongside the studios that made the games including Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics. Square Enix’s excuse for selling these studios is simple – they made games that the company says “underperformed”. It seems that both Marvel’s Avengers and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy were to blame for this as the company lost around $200 million on these games.
Keep in mind that Square Enix shot themselves in the foot by developing a live-service Avengers game that didn’t have any hope of being successful. The game launched with a mediocre campaign, in-game purchases, a boring grind for power and the lack of replayability was far off from what you would expect in a live-service game.
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Sadly, the horrendous launch then affected its next game – Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy. The lack of trust in the company meant gamers were hesitant about the single-player adventure and in the end, didn’t buy it.
According to industry analyst David Gibson, the double blow led to Square Enix losing over $200 million on both of these games in just under two years. Gibson says that while the IPs had potential, Square Enix’s low sale price of the properties (sitting at $300 million for the entire package) reflected this loss.
Sadly, in the end, Square Enix was in a hurry to get rid of these franchises and studios. The company recently stated that it would focus its strengths on its Japanese studios. These studios would develop games for western audiences including Final Fantasy XVI, Kingdom Hearts and more.
Marvel – that’s the reason why Square sold its NA team for $300m. Because in a little under two years they lost $200m on two Marvel games. But it still looks like a low price given the optionality on probably 4 AAA titles coming through. #SquareEnix #Embracer
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) May 2, 2022
