Yoichi Wada is out at Square Enix after the company posted disappointing earnings results. Square Enix's revised earnings report for their firscal year 2013 (ending March31) Tuesday morning, details the oddly high expectations the company has for its "HD Games" releases. The past three: "Tomb Raider," "Hitman Absolution" and "Sleeping Dogs" were considered to have "failed to meet each target."
"Tomb Raider" is expected to have sold 3.4 million copies by March 31. "Hitman: Absolution" should sell 3.6 million and "Sleeping Dogs" should sell 1.75 million by the same date. Square Enix listed the three titles alongside their Metacritic scores, each at least 80 or above putting them in them in the "green," which seems to have altered the company's expectations for the games. The report reads:
"Despite the high critical acclaim, [the games] failed to meet each target." Square Enix did not count digital download sales in these numbers, though it's unclear if that revenue would be a boost or a trickle. The report called North American sales "ineffective" compared to European sales, as well as put partial blame on "price pressure" and extra spending on "price protection," referring to refunds given to customers who bought a game when it later went on sale.
While total net sales for the company's "digital entertainment segment" in fiscal year 2013 were adjusted from 94.5 billion to 87.0 billion yen, a 7.94 percent decrease, the company's operating income from that same segment was brought down from 13.8 billion yen to a measly 1.0 billion yen, a 92.75 percent decrease. All the while the company's social games, mostly released in Asian markets, are "growing steadily."
In an effort to rebuild and refresh the management team, longtime Square Enix President Yoichi Wada will not be re-elected come June 2013. Yosuke Matsuda, who has been with Square since 2001, before the company's merger with Enix to create what we have today, is considered a leading candidate to take the position. Wada has been President since Square Enix was formed.