Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs fail to meet company expectations

Based on the reception of Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs — three respectable Square Enix franchises — you'd think the company would have plenty to boast about in its latest financial report. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case as an entire slide was dedicated to the "weak sales" of all three games.

All three titles, according to the slide, failed to meet target goals set by Square Enix. For the record, Tomb Raider sold approximately 3.4 million units (not including digital distribution) which begs the question: what exactly were Square's expectations? Meanwhile, Hitman: Absolution sold 3.6 million since its launch in November last year, while Sleeping Dogs sold 1.75 million since last August. Again, both of these titles missed their individual expectations.

Square Enix North America seems to be the target of main criticism, with the slide noting: "In particular, North America sales force was ineffective, ending up with 2/3 of number of units sold in Europe." In light of the disappointing sales, Yoichi Wada is stepping down as Square Enix president and representative director.