Square Enix tends to be unpredictable as a publisher. Take this year alone, for example: it released the highly promoted Forspoken to middling reviews, and then barely lifted a finger to advertise the critically acclaimed Octopath Traveler 2. Meanwhile, last year it dropped a ton of titles on Nintendo Switch, none of which really had space to breathe.
Speaking as part of a financial briefing, the firm indicated its intent to alter its strategy moving forwards, focusing on more major releases with high quality and global appeal. While that may seem like a fairly obvious direction for the legendary Japanese organisation to adopt, it’s probably fair to say it hasn’t really been executing on it of late.
The company told investors that it’s been working to stabilise its earnings by increasing the number of subscribers to its MMOs, like Final Fantasy 14. This obviously guarantees a stable and consistent revenue stream, which it says it can then reinvest into the development of tentpole titles.
Moving forward it does have some pretty mammoth releases in production. Obviously next month’s Final Fantasy 16 is going to be a titanic launch, but beyond that it’s got Final Fantasy 7 Remake Rebirth and Kingdom Hearts 4 in development, two titles that certainly fulfil its target of juggernaut projects with worldwide interest.
We’re looking forward to seeing what the publisher can do moving forwards, because few companies can match Square Enix’s output when it’s firing on all cylinders.
[source hd.square-enix.com, via gamesradar.com]
Comments 49
I have a love-hate relationship with Square Enix, but I'm always rooting for them to succeed.
So from NFT and crypto to higher quality releases and increasing revenue from their MMO that a pretty big swing in strategy.
Square Enix as a whole has definitely suffered from poor management over the last generation or so. For every banger it's released, there's been a baffling decision or two.
Hopefully FF16 is the start of a new, more focused direction.
When Square hits they generally hit a Grand Slam so this can only be good news.
Triangle strategy, live a live, Star Ocean divine force, diofield chronicles, crisis core reunion,... They have done mostly great, but if they want to get even better, go ahead 😊
@RBMango Ha ha as a big fan of your YouTube channel I know that all too well I'm with you there I love Square sooooooooooo much which is why I get so pissed when they F up 😂. Hopefully FF XVI is as good as it looks and starts a renaissance for the studio........and some more bloody KH IV news would be nice 😅
That's both a good thing and a negative for me, this will likely mean no more titles like Diofield Chronicles, Trials of Mana, Harvestella, Star Ocean and Bravely Default etc
Yeah those games weren't masterpieces but they were still enjoyable JRPG's. If they start to only make Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games including spin offs then this is a sad turn of events for Square Enix. Imagine just getting those three games every 2-3 years, they will get stale fast.
SE 1 year ago: Let's release crap and see what happens
Hopefully they’re moving away from the NFT nonsense they’ve been pushing.
I think they saw how Capcom is twice their net worth now when they were on top of them.
Hope this is another capcom route for square.
Shame. I was really hoping for a slew of releases of lesser quality, even a few sub-par titles.
Tbh all they have to do to make their numbers go up is release another FFXIV expansion, that's how hard it carries them. But hopefully Forspoken is the last of their high budget western flops now that they've almost gotten rid of their western side entirely. Things are already looking amazing with the 2 FFs, KH4, and DQ12. They really need to learn how to space them out more
@UltimateOtaku91 lol I mean it works for From Software. They're about to finally change genres in who knows how long. I still agree with you, but if SE were to double down and make those 3 great franchises even better as a result of focusing only on them. I don't think that'd be too bad 😆
What about the rumored FF9 remake?
Square Enix wants to follow along with what Capcom has done recently with their successes. I'm all in for that. When those 2 JPN publishers/developers are firing on all cylinders, that's gonna be great for us (and for them too).
They need to advertise and promote their smaller games
Thats fine by me.more games is always welcome.word up son
Ngl would not be mad if they continued the remakes up until 10. Alongside New titles aswell.
may I order a high quality Parasite Eve then, SE? please?
Was going to purchase "Live a live" but certainly not at 69.99 before digital taxation. So, no.
I kinda wish they'd just make more games like Trials of Mana. That was my kind of remake.
I would like a parasite eve remake, similar to how capcom did resi2, and also please release chrono trigger on modern consoles
They were hit hard by Marvel's license. While GOTG was well received, it didn't sell very well either.
one series i'd love to see remade , and kept going is obviously some one already named it, parasite eve. a series with great potential that could easily use a face lift in 2023. with some heavy hitters on the way though , i'm very excited for ff16 , and ff7 rebirth.
Well, what was their previous strategy?
Releasing whatever?
Can they just flip a switch to make that happen or do they have an actual plan?
Like a higher quality control.
Listen and adopt to more fan feedback.
I sincerely enjoyed their remakes (Live a Live and FF7)
If they use the same methods onto their other projects, I don't see a reason why they can't.
To all journalists and politicians. Please stop using the phrase "moving/going forward". Used three times in this article alone.
Just a little heads up for the author in case of the FF7 sequel. It isn't called FF7 Remake Rebirth. It is just FF7 Rebirth. The Remake in the title of the first game is a subtitle. Kind of like the Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Rings, Two Towers, and Return of the King). They kind of misled the players by putting Remake in the title. The game is actually a sequel and takes place after the events of the original FF7 and Advent Children.
The management for this company is trash. First they jump on the live service train and produce two flops. Then sells its western division and says its going to reinvest the money in the block chain and NFTs for future games and now they are saying this, smh. I give this company another few years and they'll be begging someone to buy them.
It's just sad that after all the super graphics and all the hype, it probably won't even top ER or ZeldaTotK with the critic scores.
@UltimateOtaku91 absolutely agree, SE should continue on with these left field titles.
I think one big problem is that the general gaming community considers a 6 or 7/10 reviewed game as something horrible, while it merely means it's not for everyone. Star Ocean had some jank character design, but gameplay and story were solid. Diofield was an oddball, but offered a very unique RTS/RPG mix, perhaps even invented a new subgenre.
I hope they succeed. While they're quite hit-and-miss as publishers, when they have a hit it's always amazing.
Also, add Dragon Quest to your roadmap, please. 😁
@UltimateOtaku91 If they consistently deliver high quality games, though, they'll have money, knowledge and talents to explore new/old IPs too. Capcom is using this strategy and I'm consistently buying their games at launch due to how awesome they are.
Good more AAA third party exclusives for Sony.
What about giving us an Einhander/bouncer remaster or sequel.
I feel like they did a decent enough job advertising Octopath 2. But you may be on to something because I do hear the sales were underwhelming, compared to the first game. That’s an incredible shortcoming considering it was a Switch exclusive.
But, on the subject of this article, this saddens me somewhat. I love SE, it is probably my favorite pub/dev. But not for AAA titles that appeals the a western audience, but for its creative and innovative IP that makes me feel like I’m in wonderful worlds, that are lovely to explore. Dragon Quest, Saiken Densetsu, Octopath, The World Ends With You. These are the titles I want more of. If the goal was for “ focusing on more major releases with high quality and global appeal” Then why sell all the western IP and Studios for pennies on the dollar?
Words are just words. Prove it square, and Sony for that matter. Fire management and truly refresh your output and image.
Just don't stop making HD-2D titles PLEASE...
@Judal27 From has multiple teams now, so they haven't really changed genres off of Souls, they are actually working in additional titles. For example, you had Deracine on PSVR and now you have Armored Core 6. And apparently they are now expanding even more.
Let hope this Final Fantasy will have one story, not an additional movie, comic, mime performance, cassette tape or a Verses, Next or other updated addition to make sense of the convoluted story they try to tell.
Please no hum, uh, em or other trough or grunt sound that will be repeated every 30 seconds.
Yeah we'll see...
As good as FF16 looks graphically (apart from the full screen vomit of particle effects whenever in combat!) it still looks like a typical action RPG, albeit with tacky mini games added. Then again it's quite easy to fool gamers with shiny flash haha
Time will tell & I do hope I'm wrong😁
@doctommaso I forgot they made that VR game. But yea I wasn't saying they were done with souls like games just that for a while now that's pretty much all they pump out. Not that I mind tho, the Souls games are great
I'm guessing Bravely Default will likely survive due to its lower budget chibi art style and BD2 going over a million sales.
I fear that Star Ocean series is now lost due to its much lower sales and it could only really gain momentum with the FF level funding due to its fully proportioned art style. I doubt that will happen.
Budget wise it might survive if they go anime style like Tales of Arise which Bandai managed to sell over 2m. But I doubt SE would even take that risk.
I would rather they didn't try to appeal to the west. Please learn from Forspoken.
Do what you are good at and especially a new Chrono and FF Tactics. 😉
they had tomb raider, guardians of the galaxy were excellent games but then sold the studios so im not sure how that helps releasing more higher quality games
Valkyrie elysium that game is killing my sanity
@Ken_Kaniff @Rob3008 @knowles2 Blockchain / NFTs are still on their future plans (pages 23, 26, 31-33 etc. of their briefing document)
PushSquare has been very selective about what to pull from the document. Regardless It's a very VAGUE statement. You can interpret this to mean what you want really. What do THEY mean by quality? Do they mean less smaller titles like Octopath 2, Live a Live and more like Final Fantasy 16 or 7 Remake? Or do they mean less well regarded/reviewed titles like Forspoken and more that reviewed well like Octopath 2 etc.
Frankly what we interpret from the statement says more about our own bias than anything specific they said.
@ShogunRok Its more then a few baffling choices. It's Final Fantasy and Octopath that where fantastic. NFT's, selling great IP's for peanuts, telling us gamers that if you for fun you are a loser.
It's nice to hear that Square Enix wants to continue to improve the quality of their games. That being said, there were several games from Square Enix released last year and this year so far that I have personally enjoyed very much. Even if some of them didn't have the best graphics or visual quality, the gameplay, combat, stories, characters, and music of the games I particularly loved were all of excellent quality in my personal opinion.
Some of the games I really loved from Square Enix last year and this year include Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Star Ocean: The Divine Force, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, Octopath Traveler II, and Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. Yes, some of those games did receive mixed reviews, but I personally do not like to rely fully on reviews to decide for myself whether a game is "worth playing" or not. If I'm interested in a game, especially if it's in a franchise I love like Star Ocean, of course I'm going to buy it and play it regardless of what the review scores are. Quite honestly, I disagree with many of the criticisms and lower scores given to games like Star Ocean: The Divine Force. Same with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. I really loved both of those games. I thought Star Ocean: The Divine Force was a wonderful return to form for the Star Ocean franchise, and was much better overall than Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. I would easily give Star Ocean: The Divine Force a solid 8.5/10, personally. I respect that everyone has different opinions, including reviewers. But that's the thing. For me personally, I see reviews as simply other people's opinions. I don't personally like to define whether a game is worth playing or not because of something someone else said, especially in a franchise I already love, like Star Ocean or Final Fantasy. It's fine if others want to use reviews as guidelines — especially if they're trying to be extra conscious of their money. Sometimes I use reviews as guidelines too for that same reason, but I personally never like to form an opinion of my own until I have actually played and finished playing a game myself. I like to wait to form my opinion until then. For games I haven't played, I personally hate to bash on or heavily criticize until I have actually played it myself. If that means I end up not having an opinion on something because I haven't played it, oh well. It's not a big deal to me personally, and I would much rather wait to judge a game completely until I've played it than just follow whatever others say without thinking for myself.
I will admit, however, that I do like that Square Enix wants to continue to improve the quality of their games. I've personally loved so many of their games in recent years — even ones that a lot of other people hated. While this news is certainly music to my ears, I personally have extremely little to complain about Square Enix as it has been the past few years. Others may disagree, but we're each entitled to our own opinions and perspectives, and this is just my opinion.
Still waiting on those dragon quest titles...
@ShogunRok @Keyblade-Dan Fingers crossed that happens, I really want FF16 to overperform. Like Super Mario movie levels for Square-Enix.
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