It appears we’ve learned the primary reason why Square Enix is shutting down Forspoken developer Luminous Productions – it hasn’t recouped its massive budget.

The massive game’s budget was reportedly a hundred million dollars – you read that right – news spotted by a Twitter user from the game’s former lead writer, Allison Rymer.

The ex-Luminous Productions writer listed the game on her Linkedin resume with her duties: “Wrote the bible, script, and downloadable content for a fantasy AAA video game ($100,000,000+ budget) with release date set for Fall 2022.”

She added, “Conceived the world, the characters, and the game play. Interfaced with the producers, Japan-based development team, actors, director and business affairs. Problem-solved story, budget, and production issues in a cost-effective manner and always met deadlines.”

Rymer’s note was discovered a few days after Square Enix admitted the sales on Forspoken have been “lackluster,” all of which seemingly led to its developer being shuttered and folded back into their main company.

Forspoken has been available on Windows PC (via Steam, the Microsoft Store, and the Epic Games Store) and PlayStation 5. In case you missed it – find our thorough written+video review here.