Square Enix halves microtransaction prices in low-performing Foamstars 

Square Enix have announced price adjustments for their online PvP shooter Foamstars. From June 21, 2024 at 1:00 AM UTC, the prices of many of the game’s bundles, skins and items will be significantly lowered, some almost halved. 

This comes after Square Enix announced a big year-on-year drop in profits, part of which is attributed to new titles falling short of expectations. According to Square Enix’s comments to Bloomberg, Foamstars was one of the titles that did not perform as forecasted. The live-service game debuted in February this year for the PlayStation 4 and 5. Even though it  had a strong day-one, PSN data suggests that Foamstars lost over 90% of its players only two months following launch. This is despite the game being available for free to PSN Plus subscribers until March 4, 2024.  

Foamstars’ DLC pricing was considered steep by some users, and the developers’ use of the generative AI program Midjourney for in-game assets caused dissatisfaction overseas (although AI was reportedly used on less than 0.01% of the game’s content). 

WIth Foamstars being moved off PS Plus’s free games list, anyone who wants to play the game now must purchase it in addition to having the PS plus membership required for online play. It seems that Square Enix is trying to address the games’ shrinking player base and DLC pricing complaints by lowering the cost of microtransactions in Foamstars. Bundle Sets that currently go for $44.99 will be lowered to $24.99, and $10.99 character skins will be reduced to $6.99 following the June 21 update. A detailed list of items subject to price adjustments can be found here. The game itself is currently available at a 30% discount on the PlayStation store.