So I think this is one of the more explicit statements of concern we've seen regarding an individual game and the state of the Japanese game market, especially for a major title like this.
One way in which they've leveraged the game however is that they seem to have reused all the monster models in their new Hearthstone-esque card game, and presumably will be running events in all their mobile games (and perhaps the MMO?) to celebrate the release.
Source: http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/17q4outline.pdf
One way in which they've leveraged the game however is that they seem to have reused all the monster models in their new Hearthstone-esque card game, and presumably will be running events in all their mobile games (and perhaps the MMO?) to celebrate the release.
Q: How does your sales plan for ”DRAGON QUEST XI" compared to that for the previous installment in the series?
A: It's difficult to make a direct comparison given how different the market landscape is now compared to when we
released ”DRAGON QUEST IX," which was back when home consoles were in their prime. Our plan is to leverage
”DRAGON QUEST XI" to generate earnings across the DRAGON QUEST brand.
Q: There is a ¥5 billion gap between the upper and lower ends of your FY2018/3 operating income forecast. Does
that owe to your outlook for ”DRAGON QUEST XI" sales?
A: That is the product of a multitude of factors and does not owe to any one title. Our outlook for ”DRAGON QUEST XI"
is conservative given changes in the market landscape and other considerations.
Q: Could you elaborate about your FY2018/3 earnings forecasts and your medium-term targets?
A: As regards our FY2018/3 earnings forecasts, I would note that the sales plan for the HD Games sub-segment is
focused largely on titles for the Japanese market. The plan is a conservative one given the significant changes that have
taken place in the Japanese market since the days when home consoles were the primary medium for game play. In
terms of the medium-term targets, I will say that we are currently revisiting our pipeline with the objective of reaching
our targets by around FY2020/3.
Source: http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/17q4outline.pdf