Square Enix HD games division’s earnings for the quarter it released Marvel’s Avengers is in the red, according to a new report.
The latest earnings report from the company reveals that, despite growth in the first half of the fiscal year, the company showed a loss of $62million from July to September 2020, the quarter it released Marvel’s Avengers, per Video Games Chronicle.
During that same period, its also been reported that the overall net sales for the Japanese company were ¥23.7billion, a 30 per cent decrease from the previous quarter’s results of ¥34.1billion. The previous quarter featured the launch of Final Fantasy VII Remake launching on a single platform, while Marvel’s Avengers was released on multiple systems.
Games industry analyst, David Gibson, also took to Twitter to report new details on the company’s losses, including the potential development costs of Marvel’s Avengers. Gibson stated that Square Enix reported a ¥6.5billion “loss for HD Games driven by Marvel Avengers” and that the company “would not say how many sold but that volumes were 60% of plan”.
According to Gibson, he estimates that the “game cost over $100m to make but only sold [3million copies] or so”. He also added that “the total cost of the game is closer to $170m-$190m given they only expenses 70% of cost in the [quarter] plus marketing costs”.
Marvel Avengers- it looks like the total cost of the game is closer to $170m-$190m given they only expenses 70% of cost in the qtr plus marketing costs. Why someone didn’t say stop post the multiplayer beta will remain a mystery . Square are adamant they can make a recovery ….
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) November 7, 2020
The company recently spoke out about the dwindling player numbers for Marvel’s Avengers and said it’s “confident” players will return to the game. It later released a blog post confirming the delay of the next-gen versions and Kate Bishop expansion, with details on how the game will move forward in the future.
The company explained how it aims to push the game forward, with focus on four key pillars: performance and stability, multiplayer and matchmaking, rewards and late-game content. It stated that the problems highlighted do not align with the company’s “value of craftsmanship” and it will be adding new “community-driven features” to reinvigorate the game.
In NME’s review of Marvel’s Avengers, the game was described as “movie magic [that] turns to dust thanks to [an] uninspired grind”, but praised its “fantastic storyline and well-realised characters”.