Always getting us into trouble with your optimism, Tom.
This sounds better than your previous post, though I still feel that if you're not 100% certain that SC will release before Cold Steel you should either say nothing on the subject or say "I'm not sure exactly when the release dates will fall because we're still in the process of working things out." That's a totally acceptable answer!
I appreciate your enthusiasm for the games you work on. I really do. But it has been my observation that your enthusiasm leads you at times to say things that you would be better off not saying. There is a reason why companies tend to keep a tight leash on the information their employees divulge - not just game companies, as in the recent case of the Nintendo Treehouse localizer who was fired after speaking frankly on a podcast, but all companies. There was a reason why when I previously worked in Apple technical support I was very cautious about what I would say about the (little) information I was privy to, both online and to my friends and family. It's important for a company to monitor and control its PR to prevent misinformation that could be harmful to the company from spreading. XSEED may be a small company, and may not like to run things in a "corporate" manner, but it's still important that it watches what its employees say, especially when they're acting as representatives of the company as you are doing here on NeoGAF. In some instances, having a "company line" is necessary.
To give a related example, currently Atlus is publicly stating that Persona 5 will be released in the US in 2015. I believe them, because they have never deviated from that statement and have not given me any reason to doubt their PR statements. However, if Persona 5 does end up missing that 2015 date the credibility of Atlus will be hurt in my eyes and it will give me greater pause in believing what their employees say in the future and in desiring to support their products.
(Note: I'm a bit late to this with my reply, but I had half typed up before I went out today, so sorry if it's retreading ground.)
I'd say the candidness is part of our (sometimes clumsy and often absurd if you follow any of the media accounts) charm, but I still think it's a long sight better than being afraid to say anything or having to screen your statements through a marketing department. I should add that the 'marketing department' is also just one part VP and one part stressed out chica at the moment, so it's not like they have the manpower or energy to do such a thing, anyway. While it does see us putting our foot in it sometimes, I don't think we've shied away from trying to explain or make amends for whatever's been goofed. Everything you see online from the XSEED twitter to the Facebook to Tumblr to the forums are other XSEED employees working outside their actual job descriptions and usually on their own time. We do it because we like talking to people, want to explain our projects, and enjoy posting cat pictures, not because we're PR mouthpieces or trying to market.
Tom spends a lot of his own time managing the XSEED forums, and trying to answer stuff on GAF and elsewhere to be helpful, but as he said, as much as the company is a small outfit, you don't know every little detail of the project stages if they're not yours. For example, as chaosblade corrected Aeana, editing was done back in Jan, but aside from the immediate SC team or people following me on twitter, it wouldn't have been specifically known to say, Tom or Ryan or Kelly, etc. There are just so many projects going on at once that's it's impossible to keep up with every detail even though general meetings are had to round-up the week. But, just asking for clarification usually nets you the correct answer because we'll check. So, I know that conflicting info is confusing, but it's usually borne out of a desire to give people a response, not to mislead or 'go off leash'.
Anyway, I can't imagine XSEED ever going the corporate way, but I'm sure we can improve on the confusing stuff, so, uh, go, 2016?
