Forspoken developer merged into Square Enix

The development studio behind the recently released Forspoken has been folded back into Square Enix following poor reviews and sales.

Luminous Productions, the development studio behind the recently released Forspoken, will be folded back into parent company Square Enix following the game’s poor reception.

The development studio was first established in 2018 and was made up of staff primarily from the development of Final Fantasy 15. It was formed to continue work on its game engine, called Luminous, and would go on to create Forspoken.

Forspoken was first announced under the title of Project Athia in 2020, before being re-revealed in 2021 with its final title. In late 2022 its marketing campaign caught backlash on social media for its dialogue, which many said was embarrassing and spawned weeks of ridicule and memes.

Unfortunately, when Forspoken released in January of 2023, it launched to mixed reviews from critics and fans. While the game’s combat was generally well-received, it caught flack for its cringe worthy dialogue, poor visual quality, and slow pacing.

Sales numbers for the title have not yet been released, but it’s expected that it also performed quite poorly. Steam popularity listings suggested that it had been outperformed by smaller games like Hi-Fi Rush, which saw a surprise release and became an overnight hit, despite the lack of an extended marketing campaign.

Luminous’ parent company Square Enix will now reabsorb the studio on May 1, 2023, with staff being distributed among other Square Enix games in development. The developer says that it will continue to support Forspoken until the merger, with new DLC said to be on the way.

Forspoken has been criticised for a number of issues, including poor writing and inconsistent visuals, but praised for its combat mechanics. Picture: Square Enix

The studio says that it was proud of the work that it had done, and thanked fans for their support.

“When we established Luminous Productions in 2018, our vision was to make AAA games that fused technology and artistry to deliver completely new experiences,” the studio said in a statement posted to Twitter, “Having the chance to do just that has been a dream come true. We appreciate you taking this journey with us and look forward to continuing to create new entertainment and experiences as a part of the Square Enix family”.

An Update from Luminous Productions pic.twitter.com/fbDENflRhj

— Luminous Productions (@LumiPro_EN) February 28, 2023

It comes after Square Enix doubled down on NFT games in a letter celebrating the new year. The company pledged to continue investing in the controversial technology. It came after a massive collapse of blockchain and NFT markets in late 2022, causing many to express a lack of confidence in the company.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.