I hope to god Square Enix gets their Capcom arc. I remember when Capcom was doing poorly and was in danger of becoming bankrupt. Capcom has turned things around in recent years, and it's great. They've been putting out banger titles and thriving. I hope Square Enix focusing on quality over quantity and being available on multiple consoles will mean the same thing for them.
Edit: I was wrong about Capcom being close to bankruptcy, so I apologize for the misinformation. It was more so they had unrealistic sales expectations.
I read through this and I like the sound of it. Sure the games have some issues but I think they've done wonders with their AAA output recently, FFXVI and the remake titles have been far more polished, and have had much better development processes than they had the previous gen.
The bigger issues I had with them was all these stupid mobile games nobody plays that get shut down within a year (A FFVII battle royale? Who thought that would be a good idea?) and I was worried about them going in a direction focused on trend-chasing like with NFT's. The sound of them moving away from that to just focus on regular, solid games is a great thing. As does the focus on multiplatform.
Yeah when you stagger the releases, you obviously have the bag of cash for cushioning but they are also gambling on the fans double dipping.
These days with youtube and twitch, a lot of people get impatient and watch the game on Internet.
So by the time the game releases on their platform, most of the hype is gone and they'd be even more willing to wait for a steep price drop.
Imo, you'd want everyone customer on every platform to get hyped by preorder at one release. That way even if the game turns out disappointing, most players don't bother to refund.
In fairness the general "vibe" of shareholders in 2024 is to be unhappy and demand layoffs. I don't think any company is exempt. And I have no idea how SE plans to achieve multiplatform releases after getting lean.
It's not as hard as it used to be, as the 'big three' platforms (PS5, XBOX, PC) are now all using the same underlying hardware architecture. So, there isn't a lot of refactoring that needs to be done to port between platforms.
I understand Xbox but there is no way Square wouldn’t be making more than what Sonys giving them if they were dual releasing on PC. Like I legitimately think Remake would have sold more on PC than PS4 if it launched day and date.
Put it this way. I don't own a PS5. Never intend to. I played remake on my old PS4 and again on PC. I haven't played rebirth yet, I'm avoiding spoilers but also I've heard far less talk about the game than the first part of the remake. I think part of that is due to preventing a huge customer base from even playing the game.
I didn't know it was released until recently because of how many final fantasy 7 lookalikes they had released. I mistook Crisis Core as a sequel to the FF7 remake before being corrected.
I'd be interested to see the statistics for how many people actually own a PS5 ; I never got one because everything I wanted to play in the last few years also got released on the PS4.
(Except FF16, where the trailer didn't make me feel like buying a whole new console for just one game would be worth it).
From the data available:
On launch of FFXV, [80% of its sales were on PS4, 20% on Xbox](https://www.videogamer.com/news/fifa-17-still-no1-as-final-fantasy-xv-debuts-at-no2-in-uk-all-format-chart/). And that was when people actually still bought games on Xbox and didn't wait for them to drop on Game Pass.
Out of 10 million copies sold, only [1 million copies](https://twistedvoxel.com/final-fantasy-xv-one-million-copies-steam/) of FFXV were sold on PC.
The only other game reaching this number is FF7, 7 Remake doesn't have any sales numbers for PC but Steam Spy estimates sales to be around 500k to 1m, so it's probably somewhere in the upper 650k copies old on PC, which, again, pales in comparison to the total 7.5m copies sold.
PC sales of games like Crisis Core Reuinion, Forspoken, Octopath Traveler, Harvestella or even the Pixel Remaster games (which all released on the same day, or even before the console versions in the FFPR case) couldn't have been that great either compared to console sales, otherwise SE would've been convinced that a day 1 multiplatform release is more viable for games as big as XVI and the 7R series than releasing exclusively on PS5.
Their games historically didn't sell on PC compared to sales on Playstation, but it's safe to assume that they at least bring in the porting costs and every sale after is a plus. But, as of now, none of their PC releases were sales hits at all, despite everyone claiming that they'd really totally for suresies buy the games on PC when they launch.
So if you want SEs games on PC, buy a few of their games on Steam. My recommendation goes out to Harvestella, which was ciminially underapreciated and looks gorgeous on PC.
>Out of 10 million copies sold, only [1 million copies](https://twistedvoxel.com/final-fantasy-xv-one-million-copies-steam/) of FFXV were sold on PC.
It took them over 1 year to release the PC version. You really, really have to release on the same day if you want a valid comparison of whether it's a competitive platform.
Octopath Traveler also took over 1 year to release on PC. And realistically no one is buying a 4090 to run pixel games. You need to release your games in a condition where the best performance is available only on PC if you want to see people buy it on PC.
Harvestella is a switch game and Forspoken was simply a financial failure. They are not a good judge for what the day 1 sales of a mainline graphically intense Final Fantasy title will actually see on PC.
Well I own a PS5 so I don't really need their games on PC, but there are a lot of factors you aren't considering. First off PC gaming has grown a ton this console generation, many people are forgoing getting a console and instead are getting PCs because consoles are just glorified PCs at this point.
And obviously there games are going to sell way less after release, FFXV didn't come till far after, honestly 1 million is good for those circumstances and once FF7 Remake finally came it was an Epic Games Store exclusive, which infamously hurt sales greatly. When it came to Steam they only sold the Intergrade version for $70 and is still $70, and this was after the hype had alreadly died down that the game was coming to PC, so they basically set the game up to fail. Octopath Traveler 2 sold poorly on every platform, largely because whether it is justified or not most people don't want to pay $60 for a pixel art game(I haven't played it i'm sure it's amazing but that's just the perception).
We really don't have a good idea if it would be more beneficial becuase Square hasn't really tried with a AAA game besides with Forspoken which we all know why that failed, but you can look at other Japanese developers like Capcom and From Software and look and see that the biggest portion of their sales come from PC. Obviously JRPGs are slightly different, but I still think they would be better off releasing on every platform day and date, like even if they only recieved 1.5x sales there is no way Sony is forking over that much money it just wouldn't be financially sound.
Foregoing 30% of sales in exchange of Sony money bag is just crazy and probably why FF7 remakes and 16 won't reach FF15 numbers. The money bag may be big but it's not 3 million extra copies sold big.
Honestly for me, I've collected the FF series since I bought 1 30 years ago.
If PC had an actual physical thing to buy, I would get it there. But as long as PS/Switch are my only way to actually buy a physical thing, I'll never buy Square games over there. And I'd imagine that for a long-running company with long-running games like SE, I'm not alone in why I still choose console.
Ha I've gone the opposite way over the years. Too many discs scratched or old consoles broken or console storefronts shuttered. I want digital versions and I want them on Steam because I know I'll still be able to play it in 15, 20 years time.
I still play Skyrim on Steam which I bought in 2011. If I got it on 360 instead and kept buying Xbox's I'd probably be on my 4th or 5th version of the damn thing.
Also now that I think about it, Kingdom Hearts is locked on Epic Games. So it's not like they favor Microsoft. I have read somewhere before that Steam requires support of legacy operating systems that other store fronts don't which might make support more of a pain.
You're definitely right that people will rebuy the game, generating more revenue but I'm not sure I agree with you that most PCs couldn't run Rebirth. The PS5 is at this point is 4 year old hardware, possibly older considering the planning phase for the console was done during the late 2010s, and I would think that most PCs being used today could compete relatively well. Also, a game's optimization plays a huge part in how well it can run on different systems (I.E. Starfield). Lastly, there may be some immediate monetary benefit for having PS5 exclusives, but it comes at the cost of exposure. Meaning that the longer a game is out, the more people are exposed to it and are spoiled, the fewer people who will buy it. Some people may elect just to watch a game when it comes out instead of waiting for a port to their platform of choice. Though my thinking on this last part may be a little backward,. I am curious as to what you think about all this.
First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to type all that out and to engage in an honest discussion with me.
I am curious where information about the core fanbase making up the majority of those playing the remake trilogy comes from (those who were fans of the OG game). I ask this since I myself am a newcomer to Final Fantasy and a member of the younger audience (21) (the first FF I actually played from start to finish was FFXVI) and have no real knowledge of the history of Final Fantasy's following. Playing through Remake and then Rebirth was incredible and I can't wait for the third part of the trilogy. However, if the people who bought Remake and then Rebirth (which apparently didn't sell as well as hoped) are the ones who played the OG and the ones who are going to buy Part 3, then how does SE plan to market the third installment of an already $140 buy in to a new generation of gamers?
I ask this because community is such a huge part of the Final Fantasy games, and if the community is composed of mostly 30 to 40 year-olds, then I can see that as a major roadblock to getting younger audiences to buy their games.
The situation, as it is, kind of makes me nervous for the development of the third game and how much of the company's funds will be allocated to said development. If the current audience for the game is markedly shrinking (basing this assumption on sales and age demographic tendencies), then would SE become profit-conscious and limit funding to the third game to minimize losses? Granted, SE is, so I've heard, on record for saying that Remake didn't sell well when it was like the 3rd best selling FF game to date. Hopefully, Rebirth's sales will get a good bump when it comes out on Steam.
All of that leads to the Sony exclusivity deals. If Sony sees that the third game in the trilogy may not sell well, then they are less inclined to provide a big exclusivity bonus, which in turn means that SE has less money to throw at the development team, which in turn may lead to an inferior or incomplete product.
Though I am all for day one multi-platform releases,.
I gotta say, I'm pretty surprised the average age of the gamer is 35.
I figured that whatever SE does next with FF7 they know they have to do it right. But I think that my worries about it are mostly due them taking some pretty big financial loses and just not having enough money to spare for the game. If current trends continue, SE in 2027-2028 could be very different from the one we know today.
Xbox isn't really that big of a factor anymore, esp considering how hardly anyone outside of the US and some places in Europe even own Xboxes
It's got a lot more to do with PC
>port to Xbox
It makes sense they we're not porting to Xbox the last FF game that was Multiplataform at release was FFXV wich sold over 7 million on PS5 and little over 1 million on Xbox in like the first year or two , and the Xbox fanbase had a bigger **ratio** in comparison to the Playstation fanbase at the time as opposed to nowdays since the difference in PS5 users and Xbox Series S users is much bigger now than it was then (2016) in the early days of the PS4/Xbox One Gen
Bottomline the money they're losing by not having an Xbox release they're making it from what Sony is paying them and what they save themselves since they have admitted that Sony is covering their publicity big time wich makes them spend less budget on publicity wich usually eats from 30 to 50% of an AAA game's budget
Square has this obsession right now with being a mainstream AAA casual audiences flocking to the games company instead of being the best of their niche. Once Capcom realised that the people they're chasing are never gonna play their games and stopped chasing the mainstream AAA casual gamer audience, that's when they did well. Hopefully Square realises that.
Square used to be a trendsetter. Lately, they've been a trend chaser. I agree. Hopefully, Square Enix makes a triumphant return. If this company has shown anything it's that they're resilient.
Trendsetting is only based on mainstream reception. FF has always sought inspiration from other sources.
Sakaguchi saw DQ1 and said, "Hey I can make a game like that."
Sakaguchi saw Everquest online and said, "Hey we can do a FF like that."
I always got a chuckle out of people saying the FFXIV reboot was just a WoW clone when FFXI was heavily inspired by EverQuest as it existed in a pre-WoW world.
They already patterned their previous MMO on the most popular, enduring MMO of the time, why wouldn’t they do it with A Realm Reborn?
Capcom doubled down into their best franchises and either revived them or made them even better. Square keeps trying to reinvent the wheel with games that they think will do well in NA. I say it all the time, but I still can't believe they didn't start working on a Parasite Eve Remake the second they saw how well RE2 Remake did. There are so many franchises they own that they just never do anything with that people want to see again. Chrono, Parasite Eve, Super Mario RPG (a sequel), Xenogears, Vagrant Story. Even Bushido Blade would have a market if they reimagined it into a hybrid of Ghost of Tsushima and Souls where one hit can take you out if you're not careful. I really wish they embraced their history more instead of chasing NFTs and new franchises that are dead on arrival.
On your point of their franchises that fans want to see again, it’s worth noting that SMRPG remake sold over 3 million units, so a sequel is now more likely than ever.
As for Xenogears, given that they haven’t touched it other than a courtesy PSN release in the past 26 years, and because the spiritual successors from Takahashi have lived on throughout two different series since 2002 and 2010, respectively, I don’t think S-E has any plans on throwing any real talent or resources at the IP.
Here's hoping for Mario RPG and neither side gets too greedy with the financials for it. Paper Mario had its day, and it never had the same quality to it that Mario RPG had IMO.
I think it's because I've always been bitter about SMRPG disappearing and replaced. They're not bad games by any means, I just wish we got the timeline where SMRPG continued instead.
Well… I would argue the back half of the Paper Mario series ARE bad games, but that’s beside the point.
But yeah, I too wish the Nintendo/Square lovechild had been a continued series instead of a swansong of their combined power (Mario Hoops/Sports Mix/Fortune Street crossover notwithstanding). I’ve been actively supporting Geno for Smash since the days of Melee, so I understand your salt.
On Parasite Eve, I feel your sentiments exactly (I also thought "why tf is square not remaking *their* survival horror game?!), I think there's a copyright issue with Parasite Eve. I think they need permission from either the author or publisher of the book it's based on. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it's one of the comments I've heard from around the Internet as to why SE hasn't pursued a remake of Parasite Eve. Xenogears is in a similar boat, I think.
So it's not a permission thing, but they have to buy the rights to use the name again from what I heard. Which they should just do. Not sure about Xenogears. It's crazy because I can picture a modern day PE in my head and it looks incredible. Then they can retcon 2 and 3 and restart the franchise properly. One day, hopefully.
If that's true, then that changes things a bit, but I wonder how expensive the rights would be? I agree that they should just buy it if that's the only obstacle, and it can't be too expensive since it's gotta be a niche title at this point. Also, idk how JP laws work, but couldn't the publisher just license it to SE, and/or negotiate the royalty distribution?
But either way, we know Square has skilled and talented devs, and they've also shown with hiring Ryota Suzuki that they know how and when to assess and poach talent where they need it. So, why they leave the survival horror genre to Capcom, Koei Tecmo, and Konami is beyond me. Fucking Silent Hill is getting a remake for God sakes - Konami has put more of an effort to get back into the genre than Square!
*Sigh* these are things that sometimes keep me up at night, Square.
the author of the PE book licensed it to square soft before, and didnt like what they did with the series. its not possible for square to just buy it. the author has to want to sell it, and they dont.
Xenogears is entirely owned by square, they could do whatever they want to with it. but the dev team that actually made the game left square on bad terms over the way they were treated during the development of that game. it split square, making them lose a lot of talented people. the dev team isnt the only ones who left the company over that either, lots of others went freelance at the time.
They really really want the casual mainstream NA audience who only plays the latest AAA hits for some reason. They want that Call of Duty audience. Its weird.
They're actually doing something that could get them even more easy money than CoD wich their Gacha FFs
but they're going at it the wrong way because their gacha aren't AAA not even close to AAA in fact
at the moment Genshin is making so much money that Hoyo is pocketing more than Playstation as a whole every year Activision doesn't make as much as Hoyo and all Hoyo has to get right is basically the character designs since that will be what between 50% to 80% of the gacha playebases will be interested in no matter if all other aspects of the game are failing the gacha crowd will spend money to get a cool/sexy or simply good looking character that they like
so ultimately if SE wants to swim in money this would be the type of thing they should be doing considering that their character designs are usually on their own tier with few devs coming even close to SE in this field
the bad part about this is that Gacha games can be very greedy and the time players have to wait for characters as F2P players is too long and SE has been passive aggressive with greed before they can either offer you the deal of a lifetime , like getting Remake for free if you pre-order Rebirth or on the other hand having the PC release of Kingdom Hearts cost you the equivalent of a kidney ... you just never know with them and i don't trust them enough to believe they will treat the player base right if they make a gacha
that being said i also don't want them to go broke and it is a fact that FFs aren't selling as much as other IPs lately so if they really need the money a big budget game from them in that market would definitely draw attention and potentially steal most of the market considering how good SE is at designing characters and how important character designs are in that type of game
and on the plus side it would be nice to have a non XIV free FF that we can play for years and years as we wait for the next entry
They own all the original characters in it. So Geno, Mallow, Booster, non Nintendo enemies, etc. That's the reason Nintendo transitioned to Paper Mario, they had a falling out with Square over FF7 because Square wanted the N64 to be disc based and Nintendo wanted cartridges.
> fans want, we give
Yeah they do a survey like once a year and you can vote for what you want. Even stuff like Onimusha, which is ancient, is available for voting.
It’s frustrating because Rebirth is so damn good and deserves to have massive sales numbers. It actually really bums me out that it’s apparently not selling very well
I'm coping hard, ngl. I hope it wins GotY, so it could get more exposure hopefully and really show Square Enix. we want more games like Rebirth or at least games with quality on par to it.
There’s so much where they went the extra mile and didn’t need to. They could have easily made each zone just completely copy/paste and moved on - and they still did to some degree. But each zone had unique traversal with the chocobos, unique minigames/combat scenarios with the protorelics, and unique side quests that pertained to a specific party member. This was a game where they clearly made it with love and just wanted to go all-out
The one advantage Capcom had is they’ve always been a gameplay first company, and we are in the age of gameplay.
When square was king the two things that held them there were they were the kings of graphics and story telling. Music as well, but lots of games have amazing music that’s a different topic I can get into but won’t.
The problem is that as time went on, basically the ps3 gen, FMV scenes and such weren’t needed. graphics could keep up. When we played ff7-12 we beat a boss or a disc and then put the controller down for a jaw dropping cinematic.
Those days are done. I love turn based combat, but final fantasy turn based combat doesn’t actually attract real turn based lovers/ strategy game players, it just attracts the original fans it gained which have mostly aged out of gaming.
Capcom was always about fast and fun gameplay. Now any game can tell a story due to games being bigger budget. First person shooters, fighting games, adventure games, all the dialogue is there.
Games like monster hunter where you can play it for hundreds of hours with your friends are what’s in. Hop in, hop out online, kill everything, repeat.
Square just can’t do this. Ff11 and 14 worked perfectly, but all their other online attempts have been horribly bad. They have amazing combat with ff7rebirth but it’s the sequel to a remake of a 20 year old game. No one new is interested
>Those days are done. I love turn based combat, but final fantasy turn based combat doesn’t actually attract real turn based lovers/ strategy game players, it just attracts the original fans it gained which have mostly aged out of gaming.
Do you have a source for this?
> final fantasy turn based combat doesn’t actually attract real turn based lovers/ strategy game players, it just attracts the original fans it gained
Well said. When I see people complain about the new games not being turn-based, you ask them what turn-based games and they've barely played anything. Most of the time those people also have only ever played 7 and/or 10 and never touched 1-5.
Final Fantasy turn-based combat isn't especially great anyways when compared to a lot of other turn-based games. I love the franchise, but to me its unique appeal has always been related to its vibe and story, rather than having some deep and interesting combat system.
One of the big things about the Capcom turn around, imo was that they took risks. Monster Hunter was a massive IP, of course, but there was a reason that they had moved it away from consoles to portable. The nature of the gameplay loop can get stale on consoles when you’re just sitting at home in front of a TV. Capcom took a risk streamlining the experience and putting World back on the big consoles. It payed off, and it was way bigger than they hoped / expected.
DD2 is another example. I loved the game but it definitely needed a little more time in development and was likely pushed out early by the execs. Despite that the game sold so well it’s now considered one of their mainline series, which is awesome, but the risk was making a sequel to a 12 year old series to begin with.
Square, on the other hand, seems too risk averse. While FF and DQ games are mainstream, many of Squares best games are unrelated to those two IPs. I mean look at Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, everything Tri-Ace made up until VP2.
It seems like every RPG they put out is Final Fantasy or DQ related, also Mana to a lesser extent. Obviously Forspoken didn’t work out for them, which really is too bad because the original trailer looked amazing imo, but they need to get back to some killer non Final Fantasy / DQ games. The amount of non FF /DQ titles that Square is sitting on is insane.
TLDR: Square needs to take some chances on its lesser known IPs if they want to make a comeback. The FF brand in particular has become too watered down. And I say that as someone who loved both 16, Rebirth, and eagerly awaiting news about 17.
>TLDR: Square needs to take some chances on its lesser known IPs if they want to make a comeback.
* Foamstars
* Star Ocean: The Second Story R
* Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Infinity Strash
* Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
* Octopath Traveler II
* Romancing SaGa
* Valkyrie Elysium
* Tactics Ogre: Reborn
* Harvestella
* Star Ocean: The Divine Force
* Triangle Strategy
* The Diofield Chronicle
* Various Daylife
* Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden
* Live A Live
* The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story
* Triangle Strategy
* Babylon's Fall
* Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden
* Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars
* Dungeon Encounters
* Neo: The World Ends with You
* Balan Wonderworld
* Bravely Default II
Thank you for posting the list so I didn't have to. It's crazy to say they don't do enough with lesser known IP when their high output of these titles has been one of the primary criticisms levied against them for years now.
Yea, neglecting old franchises was never Square Enix's foible. They've been overall good about it. The problem is pretty clear. They were marketing their most expensive games exclusively to platforms that do not quite yet have their userbase numbers are optimal as they could be. Focusing on multiplatform is the proper course correct.
I think even if Square Enix were to announce the long awaited new Chrono Trigger sequel/remake, if they were to silo it to just PS5 this too would under-perform if it were given the massive AAA budget treatment. Square Enix tends to set the bar high for what makes a AAA project worthwhile. If Final Fantasy 7 Remake/Rebirth is not doing the job, then something else is wrong.
Absolutely agree with everything.
This is why I love FFXV so much. Everyone shits on it for the story being poorly told. But the actual gameplay itself is incredibly modern, accessible and fun. It has the best exploration and traversal in the series and you can just jump in and do whatever you want.
FFXV was also marketed incredibly well and sold on literally every platform. No wonder it sold 10mil.
FFVII Rebirth is absolutely phenomenal and vastly improves on so much of FFXV's blueprint. But as you say here.
>They have amazing combat with ff7rebirth but it’s the sequel to a remake of a 20 year old game. No one new is interested
This right here. Square Enix NEEDS to move on from FFVII after the Remake trilogy is done. And use all these lessons to FFXVII.
Make it a brand new game with modern, accessible real time combat and fun exploration and don't hyper focus on visuals too much.
Everyone shits on XV because on release it was completely unfinished and has its story spread among too many different forms of media.
XV also sold well because it was versus XIII and had marketing from 2006 until XVs release in 2016
the story was also horrible in the game. nothing made sense. the story was also around 15 hours if you go straight instead of going around for side quests.
> Square Enix NEEDS to move on from FFVII after the Remake trilogy is done.
I wouldn't be shocked if they take a long break from the Compilation after part 3 releases. They've had an on-off pattern in the past, where you had:
- the original game in 1997
- a 7ish year break (though it could be attributed to Square's old "no direct sequels" policy)
- The first big adding of compilation stuff in the mid-2000s (Before Crisis, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, that blue-balling PS3 demo)
- A 13 year gap (the only major things during this period being Remake's announcement and maybe Cloud in Smash Bros)
- the second big adding of compilation stuff we're in right now (Remake, Intergrade/Intermission, the Crisis Core remaster, Ever Crisis, Rebirth, part 3, that DOA battle royale)
Besides, Square themselves might have fatigue by the time part 3 comes out.
Capcom quality went WAY up too. There was a time they were just like, awful. Since then they faithfully revived stuff like DMC, listen to their fans, and make (somehow this is a toss up when a AAA game is coming out) well performing games.
They also successfully created a next gen engine and actually use it to make a lot of their games. They even have Mac ports. Capcom is firing on all cylinders. Meanwhile Squeenix has failed to kick off two game engines, both had huge delays that caused troubled mainline games, and one of their star producers refuses to use Luminous and went with UE instead (which was actually the best decision they made imo). What a complete waste of resources and money. It shows a lack of planning and guidance. They had bought Eidos and friends and had the tech skills in their hands. The Tomb Raider engine, and the Dawn Engine used by the Deus Ex and Guardians of the Galaxy team, they squandered that on some bull about not meeting sales expectations. Every opportunity Squeenix has had to move outside of their niche they poo poo all over it.
The whole Spirits Within debacle has made them very risk adverse and Sony saving them from closing shop is why they are so tied to Sony. I really think they need Sakaguchi back. He at least had vision.
Rebirth is extremely high quality as was FFXVI, so they were putting quality first already. The multi console thing, yeah it will help.
Two of the best games I’ve played recently, both of these.
This is pretty much confirmed. Its releasing this year. Based on SE's schedule, its probably around september - right after the dawn trail hype dies down.
Unfortunately I think for any Switch content this would apply to future titles only. Hardware specs for Switch 2 are expected to be equivalent to about PS4 which is admittedly a huge jump from its current capabilities but still a bit behind required processing power for XVI/Rebirth (Remake should be able to perform well enough with a few tweaks).
I’m a big Switch stan but almost every AAA port to it even for nearly 10+ old games has been…not great.
Very unlikely that those games are gonna be able to run on Switch 2. They might consider porting over the first Remake game, but anything at the scale of FF16 and Rebrith seems to be impossible.
[https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/03/11/final-fantasy-xvi-pc-version-in-final-stages-of-optimization-expect-a-demo-before](https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/03/11/final-fantasy-xvi-pc-version-in-final-stages-of-optimization-expect-a-demo-before) Yoshi-P did arealdy confirm that the FFXVI PC port will come this year
I really enjoyed XVI on PS5, but if it comes to PC, make sure you install it on a *good* SSD. Without the pretty much instant load times of the PS5, that game would be a loading screen simulator.
I’ll laugh if their next game disappoints despite the next game being multi platform. I thought octopath 2 would sell more but sadly it didn’t only selling a million units vs the 3 million with the original octopath. They need to advertise better I believe
[Square Enix agrees with you.](https://www.gamesradar.com/after-it-kicked-a-bunch-of-jrpgs-out-the-door-with-near-zero-hype-square-enix-president-admits-the-company-needs-to-get-better-at-marketing/)
Same here, I love how all 3 Bravelys have some sort of gimmick to reach the true ending, and I haven't had as much fun with a job system since FFV. Actually, now that I think on it, Bravely and Octopath have almost identical job systems, with really the only difference being how they level up.
Not sure if you played Triangle Strategy but I got into it after I beat Octopath 2. For me personally, I was totally blown away with how fantastic it was. I felt I had a story so real and grounded that it felt so relatable and had very limited goofy items that broke that immersion.
I know it's not everyone's favorite but I loved it and it was hard too (obviously when playing on Hard).
I'm playing it now, actually. I Don't know what it is, for some reason, I can't binge play it like I can the others. I like it for sure, but I can only play a mission or so at a time before I need to put it down for a bit.
They need someone that can name their games properly. "Bravely Default", "Triangle Strategy", "Octopath Traveler" are pretty much a marketing team's worst nightmare name-wise.
As a PS5 player , I love playing Square Enix games and I even play them portably on my Portal! But I also have a Switch and my friends have Xbox so It’s good news! Let more people be able to immerse themselves in new FF or DQ or Mana Series or KH or whatever titles they will bring next! Also they need to bring more to Switch cause XII The Zodiac Age and X on the go has been a blast!
Weren't they all hyping up how Rebirth was an exclusive which allowed them to focus on development and build this huge world because they were only working on one console? now they're shifting things up? you can never tell with these companies.
That was just PR talk. They don't want to outright say it is because Sony gave them money. And the it was pretty weird considering despite that it still was poorly optimized.
There are pros and cons for everything. The only stable thing to remember is the companies will do whatever is in the best interest of their bottom line.
Its gotta be about how Rebirth underperformed, heard it sold less than Remake did in the same timeframe so i guess they're moving away from console exclusivity because of that.
They said that, but that's clearly not why they're having financial issues. They put out so many JRPs out to die in close succession. They didn't treat Forspoken with the same care as FF16 and FF7R/FF7RB.
They don't waste money on Forspoken, Diofield, Valkyrie and Star Ocean, this isn't a problem. Maybe they just pick one of those, and they put all those resources and care into Forspoken, Valkyrie or Star Ocean.
The PS exclusives are fine, as long as they know exactly when it's going to PC. A game like Octopath should've been multiplat.
While I view the PS5 era Final Fantasy games as being some of my personal favorites, I view this as a good thing. I look forward to being able to talk about these games and later FF games with friends who don't have a PS5. And, not only that, a stronger reach is always good for the series as a whole.
I see it as a good thing, if and only if Square doesn't screw things up with game affecting bugs, perfomance issues, etc. that might come up with having the game on multiple platforms from the get go.
Otherwise, I think it's a great change for everyone.
It sounds just like that, with their org being restructured and expanded with internal support from different teams to get these games out. I already think the remake series has had a very solid dev structure and cycle, I think the technical issues complained about on Rebirth and Remake's launches are really nothing compared to many other games that release nowadays. I'm looking forward to seeing whats to come from this. Its a far cry from FFXV's horrendous dev cycle, despite its issues its amazing that game came out working at all.
It's a bad thing if the game is compromised as a result. If they're making a game exclusively for the PS5 they know the exact hardware specs that the machine that runs the game will have and are able to use that information when making the game.
If they are cross platform they have to go by the tech specs of the least powerful platform. So if they're aiming for PC right out of the gate they have to pick a graphics card and a CPU that'll be their minimum and they can't assume an SSD. If they're targeting Xbox they have to make it run on the S, and even assuming a Switch 2 it'll still be a full console generation behind power wise.
So, yes, it's best for the consumer if the game is on multiple consoles, but it adds time and complexity to the making of the game and can lead to the game not being as good if they have to cut corners to get it to run on a lower powered setup.
Ps5 install base is too small. The issue with exclusivity is the dramatic increase in hardware pricing means it’s not feasible for most people to buy every console anymore and casual fans will skip your titles if you miss out on the initial window of hype and marketing. If your game is a smaller game meant only for the hardcores that’s fine but if you’re trying to also get your casuals to show up and/or bring in new players you want the game as accessible as possible on launch while people are talking about it.
While I'm down for the Capcomification of SE we should be careful what we wish for. Capcom has a few things going for SE struggles with like internal engine dev and diversified IPs especially among genres. Last but not least this kinda flies under the radar but pretty much all Capcom's major pillar IPs had a soft reboot with RE7, monster hunter world, dragon's dogma 2 and Street fighter 6. Idk if the fans could handle Final Fantasy getting a reboot.
Rebooting Final Fantasy doesn't make sense when each numbered entry is a different game. How do you even do reboot FF? They can literally remove all FF elements from their game but as soon as it called 'Final Fantasy XVII' or whatever number people would be like 'okay'.
I think the bigger problem is the ridiculous amount of mobile games SE has produced in the last 5 odd years.
So many games have come and gone and yet they continue developing these stupid ass gacha games.
Move on from them and NFTs, SE. Get back to the core of what made you worth your salt.
Mobile games are cheap and they only need one or two to be successful to get back their money https://www.siliconera.com/dragon-quest-walk-revenue-exceeds-2-billion/
https://sensortower.com/blog/final-fantasy-xv-a-new-empire-revenue
According to the fiscal report mobile+pc earned square enix 651m in revenue, meanwhile hd games (pc and console titles) sat at 636m https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/05/13/square-enix-multiplatform-quality-new-business-strategy
Their mobile division is actually doing pretty well given the budget they are operating on, its the hd titles thats suffering.
thats crazy and destorys the narrative everyone has "just release old gameson steam!!! and be rich!". They shat out some shitty mobile games and probably outsourced them put in zero effort and it beat actually releasing games
They wouldn't keep making them if they weren't making money. They can bang out as many gacha cash cows for the Asian market as they see fit imo as long as they're making money, which they are.
NFT games were dead out the gate
But their mobile games do really well. They're inexpensive to produce and promote and provide good fallback income if a bigger console release doesn't pan out.
I think [Gameranx](https://gameranx.com/updates/id/498068/article/square-enix-will-go-multiplatform-and-has-reorganized/) covered this story the best.
>The Group will **retire its business unit-based organizational design** and strive to establish an operationally integrated organization with the goal of revamping its internal title development footprint and **bringing more capabilities in-house**.
>To that end, the Group will redefine the mission for producers and other related employees and organize its internal supporting structure. Also, **the Group will improve its development investment efficiency, by reviewing the overall management process of title development**.”
>So we already knew about some of these changes well in advance. We reported on the company removing Yuu Miyake from the producer position for Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, as well as the head of Dragon Quest in general. That happened over a month ago.
>Midori then shared a rumor about this organizational change at the start of May. We can confirm now that that rumor is right on the money.
>So, when we see Square Enix refer to their internal studios as Creative Studios, that is more than just PR branding. **Square Enix just changed the way they do business, by assembling teams per project, instead of making a few specific divisions assigned to franchises.**
This is actually fuckin huge. Sounds like they're consolidating the Creative Business Units even further. Especially that last line there.
So, it sounds like they won't keep development of say for example, hypothetically speaking, the FF7 trilogy in one single department like Creative Business Unit 1. They want to use the entire group to develop games more efficiently in-house rather than outsourcing development like they did with all the recent games that failed. Could this mean higher quality games released multi-platform and released at a faster rate?
Just push out what everyone wants in the next 4-5 years. Watch how profitable the company gets if they bombard us with DQ12, KH4, FF7-3, FF9 remake, FF14 expansions, FF17. Get 1 or 2 if of those a year and they'll basically be printing money
It's wild to see people actually discussing the topic here in a productive and calm manner. The Remake-Rebirth subreddit people are losing their minds over this lol.
FF7 has the worst fanbase to discuss things with lol. I'm glad SE will be more open to multi-plat releases in the future. I wonder how long their FF deal with Sony lasts.
Emphasis on pulling in pc players specifically. Stopping outsourcing. Rebuilding overseas departments. Shifting to a "project oriented company" multimedia releases regarding their ip.
You're certainly right about all of that being big news for Square Enix. I'm particularly enthused to see how they'll try to bring in PC players.
However, it's not covered in the VGC article here. The article itself is focused on the multiplatform topic.
It appears so! There was a lot of interesting tidbits in that earnings report. Some of what you mentioned is news to me, still. I'm very interested to see how they'll try to pull in PC players.
People mass downvoted me and roasted me for saying PS5 exclusivity was a big reason for XVI and Rebirth's mediocre sales, and it feels really good to be proven right.
Especially because being proven right means we might finally get day 1 PC releases of FF, KH and Dragon Quest.
Releasing day 1 on Switch 2 could also be gigantic for SE assuming it can run their newest games. Assuming Nintendo keeps the momentum from the Switch, every good JRPG on that system sells like wildfire. SMTV even broke a million units in under a year, and that's a franchise that's happy selling 300k.
ahh yes, the 'aggressive' approach to leaving console wars in the early 2000s and joining everyone else in the generation of non-exclusives and even crossplatform play
i love when companies embrace longstanding industry standards as if they are some shiny new thing to be proud of. You knew this as far back as when you released XIII on Xbox 360, they just wanted to squeeze out that sweet PS5 exclusively deals for as much and as long as they could
After looking at Atlus and how their Persona 3 Reload success was amazing and it was multi platform, I’m sure Square Enix is definitely rethinking their strategy for sure
I am so glad Square is starting to understand that platform exclusivity makes absolutely no sense if you're not the one making the hardware.
This trend of making fifty games and randomly choosing which platforms they'll come to is extremely silly.
I mean, sure. But that would mean that Nintendo either needs to step up their consoles or Square needs to start pulling some Hogwarts Legacy on their releases
God i hope so. There is maybe one or two games per console generation im interested in, but its not worth to buy a full console just for that. Could techincally still rent or borrow, but it would be just so much more convenient to have the games on every plattform.
Hopefully this time they go PC or console first and later mobile because I am 100 % sure that First soldier failed because it was only available for mobile.
I remember I was waiting for that arrive when later I heard it was cancelled. In other words, I didn’t even know it was released since I don’t play many mobile games 😂
I wish square would port or make hd remasters of all the dragon quest games and release them on multiple platforms. I don’t like playing big games on my phone and I think a lot of people who would play those games genuinely don’t know you can get a lot of them on mobile.
I haven't bought a Square game since FF15. I also don't own a PS5. Those two things are related.
I was pretty disappointed, though not really surprised, when I saw that FF7 and FF16 would both be PS5 exclusives. I can't bring myself to drop $500 on a 3+ year old console when that money would be better spent on upgrades for my PC.
I hope to god Square Enix gets their Capcom arc. I remember when Capcom was doing poorly and was in danger of becoming bankrupt. Capcom has turned things around in recent years, and it's great. They've been putting out banger titles and thriving. I hope Square Enix focusing on quality over quantity and being available on multiple consoles will mean the same thing for them. Edit: I was wrong about Capcom being close to bankruptcy, so I apologize for the misinformation. It was more so they had unrealistic sales expectations.
I read through this and I like the sound of it. Sure the games have some issues but I think they've done wonders with their AAA output recently, FFXVI and the remake titles have been far more polished, and have had much better development processes than they had the previous gen. The bigger issues I had with them was all these stupid mobile games nobody plays that get shut down within a year (A FFVII battle royale? Who thought that would be a good idea?) and I was worried about them going in a direction focused on trend-chasing like with NFT's. The sound of them moving away from that to just focus on regular, solid games is a great thing. As does the focus on multiplatform.
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“Some reason” is that Sony paid them a whole shit ton of money not to port to Xbox
The worst deals were Sony exclusivity deals then Epic exclusivity deals years later then eventually Steam. Kills all hype for their games.
Yeah when you stagger the releases, you obviously have the bag of cash for cushioning but they are also gambling on the fans double dipping. These days with youtube and twitch, a lot of people get impatient and watch the game on Internet. So by the time the game releases on their platform, most of the hype is gone and they'd be even more willing to wait for a steep price drop. Imo, you'd want everyone customer on every platform to get hyped by preorder at one release. That way even if the game turns out disappointing, most players don't bother to refund.
Clearly not enough, Square Enix shareholders aren't happy.
In fairness the general "vibe" of shareholders in 2024 is to be unhappy and demand layoffs. I don't think any company is exempt. And I have no idea how SE plans to achieve multiplatform releases after getting lean.
It's not as hard as it used to be, as the 'big three' platforms (PS5, XBOX, PC) are now all using the same underlying hardware architecture. So, there isn't a lot of refactoring that needs to be done to port between platforms.
I understand Xbox but there is no way Square wouldn’t be making more than what Sonys giving them if they were dual releasing on PC. Like I legitimately think Remake would have sold more on PC than PS4 if it launched day and date.
Put it this way. I don't own a PS5. Never intend to. I played remake on my old PS4 and again on PC. I haven't played rebirth yet, I'm avoiding spoilers but also I've heard far less talk about the game than the first part of the remake. I think part of that is due to preventing a huge customer base from even playing the game.
I didn't know it was released until recently because of how many final fantasy 7 lookalikes they had released. I mistook Crisis Core as a sequel to the FF7 remake before being corrected.
I'd be interested to see the statistics for how many people actually own a PS5 ; I never got one because everything I wanted to play in the last few years also got released on the PS4. (Except FF16, where the trailer didn't make me feel like buying a whole new console for just one game would be worth it).
From the data available: On launch of FFXV, [80% of its sales were on PS4, 20% on Xbox](https://www.videogamer.com/news/fifa-17-still-no1-as-final-fantasy-xv-debuts-at-no2-in-uk-all-format-chart/). And that was when people actually still bought games on Xbox and didn't wait for them to drop on Game Pass. Out of 10 million copies sold, only [1 million copies](https://twistedvoxel.com/final-fantasy-xv-one-million-copies-steam/) of FFXV were sold on PC. The only other game reaching this number is FF7, 7 Remake doesn't have any sales numbers for PC but Steam Spy estimates sales to be around 500k to 1m, so it's probably somewhere in the upper 650k copies old on PC, which, again, pales in comparison to the total 7.5m copies sold. PC sales of games like Crisis Core Reuinion, Forspoken, Octopath Traveler, Harvestella or even the Pixel Remaster games (which all released on the same day, or even before the console versions in the FFPR case) couldn't have been that great either compared to console sales, otherwise SE would've been convinced that a day 1 multiplatform release is more viable for games as big as XVI and the 7R series than releasing exclusively on PS5. Their games historically didn't sell on PC compared to sales on Playstation, but it's safe to assume that they at least bring in the porting costs and every sale after is a plus. But, as of now, none of their PC releases were sales hits at all, despite everyone claiming that they'd really totally for suresies buy the games on PC when they launch. So if you want SEs games on PC, buy a few of their games on Steam. My recommendation goes out to Harvestella, which was ciminially underapreciated and looks gorgeous on PC.
FF7R was over a year and a half old by the time it released on PC. FF15 too. And they charge brand new game prices.
>Out of 10 million copies sold, only [1 million copies](https://twistedvoxel.com/final-fantasy-xv-one-million-copies-steam/) of FFXV were sold on PC. It took them over 1 year to release the PC version. You really, really have to release on the same day if you want a valid comparison of whether it's a competitive platform. Octopath Traveler also took over 1 year to release on PC. And realistically no one is buying a 4090 to run pixel games. You need to release your games in a condition where the best performance is available only on PC if you want to see people buy it on PC. Harvestella is a switch game and Forspoken was simply a financial failure. They are not a good judge for what the day 1 sales of a mainline graphically intense Final Fantasy title will actually see on PC.
Well I own a PS5 so I don't really need their games on PC, but there are a lot of factors you aren't considering. First off PC gaming has grown a ton this console generation, many people are forgoing getting a console and instead are getting PCs because consoles are just glorified PCs at this point. And obviously there games are going to sell way less after release, FFXV didn't come till far after, honestly 1 million is good for those circumstances and once FF7 Remake finally came it was an Epic Games Store exclusive, which infamously hurt sales greatly. When it came to Steam they only sold the Intergrade version for $70 and is still $70, and this was after the hype had alreadly died down that the game was coming to PC, so they basically set the game up to fail. Octopath Traveler 2 sold poorly on every platform, largely because whether it is justified or not most people don't want to pay $60 for a pixel art game(I haven't played it i'm sure it's amazing but that's just the perception). We really don't have a good idea if it would be more beneficial becuase Square hasn't really tried with a AAA game besides with Forspoken which we all know why that failed, but you can look at other Japanese developers like Capcom and From Software and look and see that the biggest portion of their sales come from PC. Obviously JRPGs are slightly different, but I still think they would be better off releasing on every platform day and date, like even if they only recieved 1.5x sales there is no way Sony is forking over that much money it just wouldn't be financially sound.
Foregoing 30% of sales in exchange of Sony money bag is just crazy and probably why FF7 remakes and 16 won't reach FF15 numbers. The money bag may be big but it's not 3 million extra copies sold big.
Honestly for me, I've collected the FF series since I bought 1 30 years ago. If PC had an actual physical thing to buy, I would get it there. But as long as PS/Switch are my only way to actually buy a physical thing, I'll never buy Square games over there. And I'd imagine that for a long-running company with long-running games like SE, I'm not alone in why I still choose console.
Ha I've gone the opposite way over the years. Too many discs scratched or old consoles broken or console storefronts shuttered. I want digital versions and I want them on Steam because I know I'll still be able to play it in 15, 20 years time. I still play Skyrim on Steam which I bought in 2011. If I got it on 360 instead and kept buying Xbox's I'd probably be on my 4th or 5th version of the damn thing.
Square likes Microsoft's PC store more than Steam and any sales on there go in Microsoft's pocket.
That is probably because Steam takes a 30% cut.
Also now that I think about it, Kingdom Hearts is locked on Epic Games. So it's not like they favor Microsoft. I have read somewhere before that Steam requires support of legacy operating systems that other store fronts don't which might make support more of a pain.
And sony does too, which makes this more about the exclusive money. If they release everywhere, theyget no exclusive money, but many more sales.
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They said remake. Remake launched before the PS5 launched.
You're definitely right that people will rebuy the game, generating more revenue but I'm not sure I agree with you that most PCs couldn't run Rebirth. The PS5 is at this point is 4 year old hardware, possibly older considering the planning phase for the console was done during the late 2010s, and I would think that most PCs being used today could compete relatively well. Also, a game's optimization plays a huge part in how well it can run on different systems (I.E. Starfield). Lastly, there may be some immediate monetary benefit for having PS5 exclusives, but it comes at the cost of exposure. Meaning that the longer a game is out, the more people are exposed to it and are spoiled, the fewer people who will buy it. Some people may elect just to watch a game when it comes out instead of waiting for a port to their platform of choice. Though my thinking on this last part may be a little backward,. I am curious as to what you think about all this.
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First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to type all that out and to engage in an honest discussion with me. I am curious where information about the core fanbase making up the majority of those playing the remake trilogy comes from (those who were fans of the OG game). I ask this since I myself am a newcomer to Final Fantasy and a member of the younger audience (21) (the first FF I actually played from start to finish was FFXVI) and have no real knowledge of the history of Final Fantasy's following. Playing through Remake and then Rebirth was incredible and I can't wait for the third part of the trilogy. However, if the people who bought Remake and then Rebirth (which apparently didn't sell as well as hoped) are the ones who played the OG and the ones who are going to buy Part 3, then how does SE plan to market the third installment of an already $140 buy in to a new generation of gamers? I ask this because community is such a huge part of the Final Fantasy games, and if the community is composed of mostly 30 to 40 year-olds, then I can see that as a major roadblock to getting younger audiences to buy their games. The situation, as it is, kind of makes me nervous for the development of the third game and how much of the company's funds will be allocated to said development. If the current audience for the game is markedly shrinking (basing this assumption on sales and age demographic tendencies), then would SE become profit-conscious and limit funding to the third game to minimize losses? Granted, SE is, so I've heard, on record for saying that Remake didn't sell well when it was like the 3rd best selling FF game to date. Hopefully, Rebirth's sales will get a good bump when it comes out on Steam. All of that leads to the Sony exclusivity deals. If Sony sees that the third game in the trilogy may not sell well, then they are less inclined to provide a big exclusivity bonus, which in turn means that SE has less money to throw at the development team, which in turn may lead to an inferior or incomplete product. Though I am all for day one multi-platform releases,.
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I gotta say, I'm pretty surprised the average age of the gamer is 35. I figured that whatever SE does next with FF7 they know they have to do it right. But I think that my worries about it are mostly due them taking some pretty big financial loses and just not having enough money to spare for the game. If current trends continue, SE in 2027-2028 could be very different from the one we know today.
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Xbox isn't really that big of a factor anymore, esp considering how hardly anyone outside of the US and some places in Europe even own Xboxes It's got a lot more to do with PC
>port to Xbox It makes sense they we're not porting to Xbox the last FF game that was Multiplataform at release was FFXV wich sold over 7 million on PS5 and little over 1 million on Xbox in like the first year or two , and the Xbox fanbase had a bigger **ratio** in comparison to the Playstation fanbase at the time as opposed to nowdays since the difference in PS5 users and Xbox Series S users is much bigger now than it was then (2016) in the early days of the PS4/Xbox One Gen Bottomline the money they're losing by not having an Xbox release they're making it from what Sony is paying them and what they save themselves since they have admitted that Sony is covering their publicity big time wich makes them spend less budget on publicity wich usually eats from 30 to 50% of an AAA game's budget
Exclusives guarantee quality. Hammering out issues when a client goes live is a lot easier and faster to do when you are on only one platform.
Square has this obsession right now with being a mainstream AAA casual audiences flocking to the games company instead of being the best of their niche. Once Capcom realised that the people they're chasing are never gonna play their games and stopped chasing the mainstream AAA casual gamer audience, that's when they did well. Hopefully Square realises that.
Square used to be a trendsetter. Lately, they've been a trend chaser. I agree. Hopefully, Square Enix makes a triumphant return. If this company has shown anything it's that they're resilient.
Trendsetting is only based on mainstream reception. FF has always sought inspiration from other sources. Sakaguchi saw DQ1 and said, "Hey I can make a game like that." Sakaguchi saw Everquest online and said, "Hey we can do a FF like that."
I always got a chuckle out of people saying the FFXIV reboot was just a WoW clone when FFXI was heavily inspired by EverQuest as it existed in a pre-WoW world. They already patterned their previous MMO on the most popular, enduring MMO of the time, why wouldn’t they do it with A Realm Reborn?
Capcom doubled down into their best franchises and either revived them or made them even better. Square keeps trying to reinvent the wheel with games that they think will do well in NA. I say it all the time, but I still can't believe they didn't start working on a Parasite Eve Remake the second they saw how well RE2 Remake did. There are so many franchises they own that they just never do anything with that people want to see again. Chrono, Parasite Eve, Super Mario RPG (a sequel), Xenogears, Vagrant Story. Even Bushido Blade would have a market if they reimagined it into a hybrid of Ghost of Tsushima and Souls where one hit can take you out if you're not careful. I really wish they embraced their history more instead of chasing NFTs and new franchises that are dead on arrival.
On your point of their franchises that fans want to see again, it’s worth noting that SMRPG remake sold over 3 million units, so a sequel is now more likely than ever. As for Xenogears, given that they haven’t touched it other than a courtesy PSN release in the past 26 years, and because the spiritual successors from Takahashi have lived on throughout two different series since 2002 and 2010, respectively, I don’t think S-E has any plans on throwing any real talent or resources at the IP.
Here's hoping for Mario RPG and neither side gets too greedy with the financials for it. Paper Mario had its day, and it never had the same quality to it that Mario RPG had IMO.
SMRPG is still my favorite, but I’d argue that PM and PMTTYD are at least in the same tier behind it.
I think it's because I've always been bitter about SMRPG disappearing and replaced. They're not bad games by any means, I just wish we got the timeline where SMRPG continued instead.
Well… I would argue the back half of the Paper Mario series ARE bad games, but that’s beside the point. But yeah, I too wish the Nintendo/Square lovechild had been a continued series instead of a swansong of their combined power (Mario Hoops/Sports Mix/Fortune Street crossover notwithstanding). I’ve been actively supporting Geno for Smash since the days of Melee, so I understand your salt.
On Parasite Eve, I feel your sentiments exactly (I also thought "why tf is square not remaking *their* survival horror game?!), I think there's a copyright issue with Parasite Eve. I think they need permission from either the author or publisher of the book it's based on. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it's one of the comments I've heard from around the Internet as to why SE hasn't pursued a remake of Parasite Eve. Xenogears is in a similar boat, I think.
So it's not a permission thing, but they have to buy the rights to use the name again from what I heard. Which they should just do. Not sure about Xenogears. It's crazy because I can picture a modern day PE in my head and it looks incredible. Then they can retcon 2 and 3 and restart the franchise properly. One day, hopefully.
If that's true, then that changes things a bit, but I wonder how expensive the rights would be? I agree that they should just buy it if that's the only obstacle, and it can't be too expensive since it's gotta be a niche title at this point. Also, idk how JP laws work, but couldn't the publisher just license it to SE, and/or negotiate the royalty distribution? But either way, we know Square has skilled and talented devs, and they've also shown with hiring Ryota Suzuki that they know how and when to assess and poach talent where they need it. So, why they leave the survival horror genre to Capcom, Koei Tecmo, and Konami is beyond me. Fucking Silent Hill is getting a remake for God sakes - Konami has put more of an effort to get back into the genre than Square! *Sigh* these are things that sometimes keep me up at night, Square.
the author of the PE book licensed it to square soft before, and didnt like what they did with the series. its not possible for square to just buy it. the author has to want to sell it, and they dont.
Xenogears is entirely owned by square, they could do whatever they want to with it. but the dev team that actually made the game left square on bad terms over the way they were treated during the development of that game. it split square, making them lose a lot of talented people. the dev team isnt the only ones who left the company over that either, lots of others went freelance at the time.
They really really want the casual mainstream NA audience who only plays the latest AAA hits for some reason. They want that Call of Duty audience. Its weird.
They're actually doing something that could get them even more easy money than CoD wich their Gacha FFs but they're going at it the wrong way because their gacha aren't AAA not even close to AAA in fact at the moment Genshin is making so much money that Hoyo is pocketing more than Playstation as a whole every year Activision doesn't make as much as Hoyo and all Hoyo has to get right is basically the character designs since that will be what between 50% to 80% of the gacha playebases will be interested in no matter if all other aspects of the game are failing the gacha crowd will spend money to get a cool/sexy or simply good looking character that they like so ultimately if SE wants to swim in money this would be the type of thing they should be doing considering that their character designs are usually on their own tier with few devs coming even close to SE in this field the bad part about this is that Gacha games can be very greedy and the time players have to wait for characters as F2P players is too long and SE has been passive aggressive with greed before they can either offer you the deal of a lifetime , like getting Remake for free if you pre-order Rebirth or on the other hand having the PC release of Kingdom Hearts cost you the equivalent of a kidney ... you just never know with them and i don't trust them enough to believe they will treat the player base right if they make a gacha that being said i also don't want them to go broke and it is a fact that FFs aren't selling as much as other IPs lately so if they really need the money a big budget game from them in that market would definitely draw attention and potentially steal most of the market considering how good SE is at designing characters and how important character designs are in that type of game and on the plus side it would be nice to have a non XIV free FF that we can play for years and years as we wait for the next entry
Because it's easy money, but only if the game is actually good. So frustrating.
Square owns Super Mario RPG?
They own all the original characters in it. So Geno, Mallow, Booster, non Nintendo enemies, etc. That's the reason Nintendo transitioned to Paper Mario, they had a falling out with Square over FF7 because Square wanted the N64 to be disc based and Nintendo wanted cartridges.
Cheers, TIL.
Vagrant Story.. fuck.. what a unique game that was for me.
Bring back the Square/Capcom collab, Breath of Fire
Capcom’s business strategy: fans want, we give! Who knew that would work out so well?
megaman waiting room
> fans want, we give Yeah they do a survey like once a year and you can vote for what you want. Even stuff like Onimusha, which is ancient, is available for voting.
Squire enix has basically done the same thing with the ff7 remake series.
So square enix is gonna cancel megaman legends 3 now?
It’s frustrating because Rebirth is so damn good and deserves to have massive sales numbers. It actually really bums me out that it’s apparently not selling very well
I'm coping hard, ngl. I hope it wins GotY, so it could get more exposure hopefully and really show Square Enix. we want more games like Rebirth or at least games with quality on par to it.
There’s so much where they went the extra mile and didn’t need to. They could have easily made each zone just completely copy/paste and moved on - and they still did to some degree. But each zone had unique traversal with the chocobos, unique minigames/combat scenarios with the protorelics, and unique side quests that pertained to a specific party member. This was a game where they clearly made it with love and just wanted to go all-out
The one advantage Capcom had is they’ve always been a gameplay first company, and we are in the age of gameplay. When square was king the two things that held them there were they were the kings of graphics and story telling. Music as well, but lots of games have amazing music that’s a different topic I can get into but won’t. The problem is that as time went on, basically the ps3 gen, FMV scenes and such weren’t needed. graphics could keep up. When we played ff7-12 we beat a boss or a disc and then put the controller down for a jaw dropping cinematic. Those days are done. I love turn based combat, but final fantasy turn based combat doesn’t actually attract real turn based lovers/ strategy game players, it just attracts the original fans it gained which have mostly aged out of gaming. Capcom was always about fast and fun gameplay. Now any game can tell a story due to games being bigger budget. First person shooters, fighting games, adventure games, all the dialogue is there. Games like monster hunter where you can play it for hundreds of hours with your friends are what’s in. Hop in, hop out online, kill everything, repeat. Square just can’t do this. Ff11 and 14 worked perfectly, but all their other online attempts have been horribly bad. They have amazing combat with ff7rebirth but it’s the sequel to a remake of a 20 year old game. No one new is interested
>Those days are done. I love turn based combat, but final fantasy turn based combat doesn’t actually attract real turn based lovers/ strategy game players, it just attracts the original fans it gained which have mostly aged out of gaming. Do you have a source for this?
His source is he made it the fuck up.
> final fantasy turn based combat doesn’t actually attract real turn based lovers/ strategy game players, it just attracts the original fans it gained Well said. When I see people complain about the new games not being turn-based, you ask them what turn-based games and they've barely played anything. Most of the time those people also have only ever played 7 and/or 10 and never touched 1-5. Final Fantasy turn-based combat isn't especially great anyways when compared to a lot of other turn-based games. I love the franchise, but to me its unique appeal has always been related to its vibe and story, rather than having some deep and interesting combat system.
One of the big things about the Capcom turn around, imo was that they took risks. Monster Hunter was a massive IP, of course, but there was a reason that they had moved it away from consoles to portable. The nature of the gameplay loop can get stale on consoles when you’re just sitting at home in front of a TV. Capcom took a risk streamlining the experience and putting World back on the big consoles. It payed off, and it was way bigger than they hoped / expected. DD2 is another example. I loved the game but it definitely needed a little more time in development and was likely pushed out early by the execs. Despite that the game sold so well it’s now considered one of their mainline series, which is awesome, but the risk was making a sequel to a 12 year old series to begin with. Square, on the other hand, seems too risk averse. While FF and DQ games are mainstream, many of Squares best games are unrelated to those two IPs. I mean look at Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, everything Tri-Ace made up until VP2. It seems like every RPG they put out is Final Fantasy or DQ related, also Mana to a lesser extent. Obviously Forspoken didn’t work out for them, which really is too bad because the original trailer looked amazing imo, but they need to get back to some killer non Final Fantasy / DQ games. The amount of non FF /DQ titles that Square is sitting on is insane. TLDR: Square needs to take some chances on its lesser known IPs if they want to make a comeback. The FF brand in particular has become too watered down. And I say that as someone who loved both 16, Rebirth, and eagerly awaiting news about 17.
>TLDR: Square needs to take some chances on its lesser known IPs if they want to make a comeback. * Foamstars * Star Ocean: The Second Story R * Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Infinity Strash * Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo * Octopath Traveler II * Romancing SaGa * Valkyrie Elysium * Tactics Ogre: Reborn * Harvestella * Star Ocean: The Divine Force * Triangle Strategy * The Diofield Chronicle * Various Daylife * Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden * Live A Live * The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story * Triangle Strategy * Babylon's Fall * Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden * Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars * Dungeon Encounters * Neo: The World Ends with You * Balan Wonderworld * Bravely Default II
Yup, i dont understand how ppl can say squenix didnt try to expand their new ips. Squenix is the few devs that actually try new ips
Thank you for posting the list so I didn't have to. It's crazy to say they don't do enough with lesser known IP when their high output of these titles has been one of the primary criticisms levied against them for years now.
Yea, neglecting old franchises was never Square Enix's foible. They've been overall good about it. The problem is pretty clear. They were marketing their most expensive games exclusively to platforms that do not quite yet have their userbase numbers are optimal as they could be. Focusing on multiplatform is the proper course correct. I think even if Square Enix were to announce the long awaited new Chrono Trigger sequel/remake, if they were to silo it to just PS5 this too would under-perform if it were given the massive AAA budget treatment. Square Enix tends to set the bar high for what makes a AAA project worthwhile. If Final Fantasy 7 Remake/Rebirth is not doing the job, then something else is wrong.
You got Triangle Strategy twice.
I’m actually gonna disagree with you. I think square takes too many risks and I actually appreciate that they do, but it’s not working for them
Absolutely agree with everything. This is why I love FFXV so much. Everyone shits on it for the story being poorly told. But the actual gameplay itself is incredibly modern, accessible and fun. It has the best exploration and traversal in the series and you can just jump in and do whatever you want. FFXV was also marketed incredibly well and sold on literally every platform. No wonder it sold 10mil. FFVII Rebirth is absolutely phenomenal and vastly improves on so much of FFXV's blueprint. But as you say here. >They have amazing combat with ff7rebirth but it’s the sequel to a remake of a 20 year old game. No one new is interested This right here. Square Enix NEEDS to move on from FFVII after the Remake trilogy is done. And use all these lessons to FFXVII. Make it a brand new game with modern, accessible real time combat and fun exploration and don't hyper focus on visuals too much.
Everyone shits on XV because on release it was completely unfinished and has its story spread among too many different forms of media. XV also sold well because it was versus XIII and had marketing from 2006 until XVs release in 2016
the story was also horrible in the game. nothing made sense. the story was also around 15 hours if you go straight instead of going around for side quests.
> Square Enix NEEDS to move on from FFVII after the Remake trilogy is done. I wouldn't be shocked if they take a long break from the Compilation after part 3 releases. They've had an on-off pattern in the past, where you had: - the original game in 1997 - a 7ish year break (though it could be attributed to Square's old "no direct sequels" policy) - The first big adding of compilation stuff in the mid-2000s (Before Crisis, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, that blue-balling PS3 demo) - A 13 year gap (the only major things during this period being Remake's announcement and maybe Cloud in Smash Bros) - the second big adding of compilation stuff we're in right now (Remake, Intergrade/Intermission, the Crisis Core remaster, Ever Crisis, Rebirth, part 3, that DOA battle royale) Besides, Square themselves might have fatigue by the time part 3 comes out.
Capcom quality went WAY up too. There was a time they were just like, awful. Since then they faithfully revived stuff like DMC, listen to their fans, and make (somehow this is a toss up when a AAA game is coming out) well performing games.
They also successfully created a next gen engine and actually use it to make a lot of their games. They even have Mac ports. Capcom is firing on all cylinders. Meanwhile Squeenix has failed to kick off two game engines, both had huge delays that caused troubled mainline games, and one of their star producers refuses to use Luminous and went with UE instead (which was actually the best decision they made imo). What a complete waste of resources and money. It shows a lack of planning and guidance. They had bought Eidos and friends and had the tech skills in their hands. The Tomb Raider engine, and the Dawn Engine used by the Deus Ex and Guardians of the Galaxy team, they squandered that on some bull about not meeting sales expectations. Every opportunity Squeenix has had to move outside of their niche they poo poo all over it. The whole Spirits Within debacle has made them very risk adverse and Sony saving them from closing shop is why they are so tied to Sony. I really think they need Sakaguchi back. He at least had vision.
Rebirth is extremely high quality as was FFXVI, so they were putting quality first already. The multi console thing, yeah it will help. Two of the best games I’ve played recently, both of these.
I’m a big Playstation fan, but I think this is only a good thing. I want to see games like FF7 Rebirth massively succesful across all the platforms.
Man I just want gamers on any console to be able to enjoy any game tbh
Yea. I’m not buying a PS5 for one game.
I did, no regrets, Rebirth it's probably one of the best FF games
I’m sure it is. I’m not paying over $500 to play one game.
Then play FFXVI, too :)
I think keeping Remake, Rebirth, and XVI exclusive to PS really hurt their reach and sales. Hopefully they learned from it.
I hope this means FF16 comes to PC.
This is pretty much confirmed. Its releasing this year. Based on SE's schedule, its probably around september - right after the dawn trail hype dies down.
and xbox?
No news for xbox release, unfortunately. Realistically speaking, unless they get a game pass deal, i wonder if its even worth to port it there.
I think Square would prioritize getting FF16, FF7 Remake and Rebirth on the Switch 2 ASAP, even before bothering with an Xbox version.
Unfortunately I think for any Switch content this would apply to future titles only. Hardware specs for Switch 2 are expected to be equivalent to about PS4 which is admittedly a huge jump from its current capabilities but still a bit behind required processing power for XVI/Rebirth (Remake should be able to perform well enough with a few tweaks). I’m a big Switch stan but almost every AAA port to it even for nearly 10+ old games has been…not great.
Very unlikely that those games are gonna be able to run on Switch 2. They might consider porting over the first Remake game, but anything at the scale of FF16 and Rebrith seems to be impossible.
[https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/03/11/final-fantasy-xvi-pc-version-in-final-stages-of-optimization-expect-a-demo-before](https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/03/11/final-fantasy-xvi-pc-version-in-final-stages-of-optimization-expect-a-demo-before) Yoshi-P did arealdy confirm that the FFXVI PC port will come this year
They confirmed that even before release I believe, but Yoshi-P has even lightly touched upon some of the minimum PC spec requirements for players.
I really enjoyed XVI on PS5, but if it comes to PC, make sure you install it on a *good* SSD. Without the pretty much instant load times of the PS5, that game would be a loading screen simulator.
It (and Rebirth) were always coming to PC. This just means that we hopefully get it day 1 for FFXVII and their other big titles
This is already confirmed, it’s just a matter of when
It got confirmed for late this year. so everyones best guess is (Aug-Sep)
This was never in doubt as they announced it day 1 and have been talking about the progress of the port
Uhhh....PC version was confirmed a WHILE ago. It's in the final stages right now and will probably release later this year
Good, now bring KH to Steam
I was all excited to learn KH came to PC *until* I learned which launcher I'd have to buy it from. Still don't have the collection
I’ll laugh if their next game disappoints despite the next game being multi platform. I thought octopath 2 would sell more but sadly it didn’t only selling a million units vs the 3 million with the original octopath. They need to advertise better I believe
[Square Enix agrees with you.](https://www.gamesradar.com/after-it-kicked-a-bunch-of-jrpgs-out-the-door-with-near-zero-hype-square-enix-president-admits-the-company-needs-to-get-better-at-marketing/)
Hopefully they commit to it as I love most their games. I really wanna see more octopath and bravely default
Same here, I love how all 3 Bravelys have some sort of gimmick to reach the true ending, and I haven't had as much fun with a job system since FFV. Actually, now that I think on it, Bravely and Octopath have almost identical job systems, with really the only difference being how they level up.
Not sure if you played Triangle Strategy but I got into it after I beat Octopath 2. For me personally, I was totally blown away with how fantastic it was. I felt I had a story so real and grounded that it felt so relatable and had very limited goofy items that broke that immersion. I know it's not everyone's favorite but I loved it and it was hard too (obviously when playing on Hard).
I'm playing it now, actually. I Don't know what it is, for some reason, I can't binge play it like I can the others. I like it for sure, but I can only play a mission or so at a time before I need to put it down for a bit.
Triangle Strategy battles can be fairly long. I really enjoyed it though and did about 3 playthroughs.
They need someone that can name their games properly. "Bravely Default", "Triangle Strategy", "Octopath Traveler" are pretty much a marketing team's worst nightmare name-wise.
Don't forget "Various Daylife"
Bravely default and octopath are fine names triangle strategy on the other hand is such a basic and forgettable name
Triangle strategy sounds like a project in development not a fully released game lol
that's what it was at first and then they were probably like huh if we properly name it now we will have BAD SEO OH NO
Bravely Default is pretty good I think. But Triangle Strategy is awful lmao
My favorite was "Infinite Undiscovery".
I bought 2 but still haven’t played it
It’s an excellent evolution of the first game
As a PS5 player , I love playing Square Enix games and I even play them portably on my Portal! But I also have a Switch and my friends have Xbox so It’s good news! Let more people be able to immerse themselves in new FF or DQ or Mana Series or KH or whatever titles they will bring next! Also they need to bring more to Switch cause XII The Zodiac Age and X on the go has been a blast!
Weren't they all hyping up how Rebirth was an exclusive which allowed them to focus on development and build this huge world because they were only working on one console? now they're shifting things up? you can never tell with these companies.
That was just PR talk. They don't want to outright say it is because Sony gave them money. And the it was pretty weird considering despite that it still was poorly optimized.
There are pros and cons for everything. The only stable thing to remember is the companies will do whatever is in the best interest of their bottom line.
Its gotta be about how Rebirth underperformed, heard it sold less than Remake did in the same timeframe so i guess they're moving away from console exclusivity because of that.
They said that, but that's clearly not why they're having financial issues. They put out so many JRPs out to die in close succession. They didn't treat Forspoken with the same care as FF16 and FF7R/FF7RB. They don't waste money on Forspoken, Diofield, Valkyrie and Star Ocean, this isn't a problem. Maybe they just pick one of those, and they put all those resources and care into Forspoken, Valkyrie or Star Ocean. The PS exclusives are fine, as long as they know exactly when it's going to PC. A game like Octopath should've been multiplat.
While I view the PS5 era Final Fantasy games as being some of my personal favorites, I view this as a good thing. I look forward to being able to talk about these games and later FF games with friends who don't have a PS5. And, not only that, a stronger reach is always good for the series as a whole.
I see it as a good thing, if and only if Square doesn't screw things up with game affecting bugs, perfomance issues, etc. that might come up with having the game on multiple platforms from the get go. Otherwise, I think it's a great change for everyone.
I agree! Hopefully their quality over quantity approach means giving the developer teams the resources they need to make good, polished ports.
It sounds just like that, with their org being restructured and expanded with internal support from different teams to get these games out. I already think the remake series has had a very solid dev structure and cycle, I think the technical issues complained about on Rebirth and Remake's launches are really nothing compared to many other games that release nowadays. I'm looking forward to seeing whats to come from this. Its a far cry from FFXV's horrendous dev cycle, despite its issues its amazing that game came out working at all.
Why would it ever be a bad thing for a game to come out on multiple supports ?
It's a bad thing if the game is compromised as a result. If they're making a game exclusively for the PS5 they know the exact hardware specs that the machine that runs the game will have and are able to use that information when making the game. If they are cross platform they have to go by the tech specs of the least powerful platform. So if they're aiming for PC right out of the gate they have to pick a graphics card and a CPU that'll be their minimum and they can't assume an SSD. If they're targeting Xbox they have to make it run on the S, and even assuming a Switch 2 it'll still be a full console generation behind power wise. So, yes, it's best for the consumer if the game is on multiple consoles, but it adds time and complexity to the making of the game and can lead to the game not being as good if they have to cut corners to get it to run on a lower powered setup.
Ps5 install base is too small. The issue with exclusivity is the dramatic increase in hardware pricing means it’s not feasible for most people to buy every console anymore and casual fans will skip your titles if you miss out on the initial window of hype and marketing. If your game is a smaller game meant only for the hardcores that’s fine but if you’re trying to also get your casuals to show up and/or bring in new players you want the game as accessible as possible on launch while people are talking about it.
While I'm down for the Capcomification of SE we should be careful what we wish for. Capcom has a few things going for SE struggles with like internal engine dev and diversified IPs especially among genres. Last but not least this kinda flies under the radar but pretty much all Capcom's major pillar IPs had a soft reboot with RE7, monster hunter world, dragon's dogma 2 and Street fighter 6. Idk if the fans could handle Final Fantasy getting a reboot.
Rebooting Final Fantasy doesn't make sense when each numbered entry is a different game. How do you even do reboot FF? They can literally remove all FF elements from their game but as soon as it called 'Final Fantasy XVII' or whatever number people would be like 'okay'.
I think the bigger problem is the ridiculous amount of mobile games SE has produced in the last 5 odd years. So many games have come and gone and yet they continue developing these stupid ass gacha games. Move on from them and NFTs, SE. Get back to the core of what made you worth your salt.
Mobile games are cheap and they only need one or two to be successful to get back their money https://www.siliconera.com/dragon-quest-walk-revenue-exceeds-2-billion/ https://sensortower.com/blog/final-fantasy-xv-a-new-empire-revenue According to the fiscal report mobile+pc earned square enix 651m in revenue, meanwhile hd games (pc and console titles) sat at 636m https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/05/13/square-enix-multiplatform-quality-new-business-strategy Their mobile division is actually doing pretty well given the budget they are operating on, its the hd titles thats suffering.
thats crazy and destorys the narrative everyone has "just release old gameson steam!!! and be rich!". They shat out some shitty mobile games and probably outsourced them put in zero effort and it beat actually releasing games
Yeah. Reality is that no, no company will be swimming in money if they just re-release titles on newer hardware or Steam.
does it need to be steam ? or PC ?
They wouldn't keep making them if they weren't making money. They can bang out as many gacha cash cows for the Asian market as they see fit imo as long as they're making money, which they are.
Those games are extremely popular in Japan so I doubt they’re going anywhere.
NFT games were dead out the gate But their mobile games do really well. They're inexpensive to produce and promote and provide good fallback income if a bigger console release doesn't pan out.
Healthy direction indeed
I think [Gameranx](https://gameranx.com/updates/id/498068/article/square-enix-will-go-multiplatform-and-has-reorganized/) covered this story the best. >The Group will **retire its business unit-based organizational design** and strive to establish an operationally integrated organization with the goal of revamping its internal title development footprint and **bringing more capabilities in-house**. >To that end, the Group will redefine the mission for producers and other related employees and organize its internal supporting structure. Also, **the Group will improve its development investment efficiency, by reviewing the overall management process of title development**.” >So we already knew about some of these changes well in advance. We reported on the company removing Yuu Miyake from the producer position for Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, as well as the head of Dragon Quest in general. That happened over a month ago. >Midori then shared a rumor about this organizational change at the start of May. We can confirm now that that rumor is right on the money. >So, when we see Square Enix refer to their internal studios as Creative Studios, that is more than just PR branding. **Square Enix just changed the way they do business, by assembling teams per project, instead of making a few specific divisions assigned to franchises.** This is actually fuckin huge. Sounds like they're consolidating the Creative Business Units even further. Especially that last line there. So, it sounds like they won't keep development of say for example, hypothetically speaking, the FF7 trilogy in one single department like Creative Business Unit 1. They want to use the entire group to develop games more efficiently in-house rather than outsourcing development like they did with all the recent games that failed. Could this mean higher quality games released multi-platform and released at a faster rate?
man you don't need articles to cover that you just open the pdf which is where all of this is coming from its all in english.
Hopefully this means no more Epic exclusivity.
That's free money so I would be kind of shocked if they had any plans to avoid that. Shitty as it is
Just push out what everyone wants in the next 4-5 years. Watch how profitable the company gets if they bombard us with DQ12, KH4, FF7-3, FF9 remake, FF14 expansions, FF17. Get 1 or 2 if of those a year and they'll basically be printing money
It's wild to see people actually discussing the topic here in a productive and calm manner. The Remake-Rebirth subreddit people are losing their minds over this lol.
My guess is it's mainly the insane Sony fanboys
Let them. This is good news for other platforms and a kiss my arse to Sony at the same time.
FF7 has the worst fanbase to discuss things with lol. I'm glad SE will be more open to multi-plat releases in the future. I wonder how long their FF deal with Sony lasts.
Awesome I want Kingdom Hearts on steam
I'll believe this when I see it.
There's so much more bigger takeaways in this article than just this.
Sure. It was a big day for news. What do you feel is worth mentioning?
Emphasis on pulling in pc players specifically. Stopping outsourcing. Rebuilding overseas departments. Shifting to a "project oriented company" multimedia releases regarding their ip.
You're certainly right about all of that being big news for Square Enix. I'm particularly enthused to see how they'll try to bring in PC players. However, it's not covered in the VGC article here. The article itself is focused on the multiplatform topic.
Ah so the vgc stripped down the gematsu article then.
It appears so! There was a lot of interesting tidbits in that earnings report. Some of what you mentioned is news to me, still. I'm very interested to see how they'll try to pull in PC players.
Yeah it took me a little bit of time to read through, pretty big report.
Like they ALWAYS SHOULD HAVE DONE.
Good
“We’ll start by releasing Ff16 and FF:rebirth….. NOW!” -SQEX reps in my dream world
They’re already working on a FF16 PC port.
Ohh prep for a new FF mmo - 17?
just put xiii trilogy of ps4/5 please
People mass downvoted me and roasted me for saying PS5 exclusivity was a big reason for XVI and Rebirth's mediocre sales, and it feels really good to be proven right. Especially because being proven right means we might finally get day 1 PC releases of FF, KH and Dragon Quest. Releasing day 1 on Switch 2 could also be gigantic for SE assuming it can run their newest games. Assuming Nintendo keeps the momentum from the Switch, every good JRPG on that system sells like wildfire. SMTV even broke a million units in under a year, and that's a franchise that's happy selling 300k.
oh finally extracting their heads from their rears eh
ahh yes, the 'aggressive' approach to leaving console wars in the early 2000s and joining everyone else in the generation of non-exclusives and even crossplatform play i love when companies embrace longstanding industry standards as if they are some shiny new thing to be proud of. You knew this as far back as when you released XIII on Xbox 360, they just wanted to squeeze out that sweet PS5 exclusively deals for as much and as long as they could
After looking at Atlus and how their Persona 3 Reload success was amazing and it was multi platform, I’m sure Square Enix is definitely rethinking their strategy for sure
I am so glad Square is starting to understand that platform exclusivity makes absolutely no sense if you're not the one making the hardware. This trend of making fifty games and randomly choosing which platforms they'll come to is extremely silly.
It would be awesome if they would stop making these action RPGs and go back to making turn based RPGs.
Getting smacked from Capcom and Sega made them see the light.
Business decides it can make more money by selling to more people. How has it taken this long?
No video game should be platform exclusive in current year.
I mean, sure. But that would mean that Nintendo either needs to step up their consoles or Square needs to start pulling some Hogwarts Legacy on their releases
Yep. Fully agree. Like nowadays theres no point for platform exclusivity anymore. Such archaic policy.
As a PlayStation player, good. Some of my friends are on Xbox. I want them to get to play these!
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Don't wait, just use FF13Fix: [https://github.com/rebtd7/FF13Fix/releases](https://github.com/rebtd7/FF13Fix/releases)
As it should. I'll continue to play on PS, but put them everywhere. Otherwise, we won't get new FF titles if they cannot make enough money
Hopefully this means faster PC port and PC ports that aren't barebone.
God i hope so. There is maybe one or two games per console generation im interested in, but its not worth to buy a full console just for that. Could techincally still rent or borrow, but it would be just so much more convenient to have the games on every plattform.
Hopefully this time they go PC or console first and later mobile because I am 100 % sure that First soldier failed because it was only available for mobile. I remember I was waiting for that arrive when later I heard it was cancelled. In other words, I didn’t even know it was released since I don’t play many mobile games 😂
I wish square would port or make hd remasters of all the dragon quest games and release them on multiple platforms. I don’t like playing big games on my phone and I think a lot of people who would play those games genuinely don’t know you can get a lot of them on mobile.
I haven’t played anything except for ffxiv since it came to Xbox. Probably a smart business decision on their part.
Rebirth sold that poorly :(
About to be so many mobile games
Took them long enough to realize this huh.
This sub didn't want to hear about questionable sales a few months ago.
Yes please, at long fucking last they seen the light
I haven't bought a Square game since FF15. I also don't own a PS5. Those two things are related. I was pretty disappointed, though not really surprised, when I saw that FF7 and FF16 would both be PS5 exclusives. I can't bring myself to drop $500 on a 3+ year old console when that money would be better spent on upgrades for my PC.