SolsticeZero
Banned
Remember when Squaresoft could do no wrong? What the hell happened? I miss those days.
Square-Enix Q3/13: ¥5.7b/$61M loss amid console market, praises social/mobile/browser
- Thread starter Blablurn
- Start date
Their net losses marginally increased, actually. Went from 5.48 billion yen to 5.745 billion yen.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Maybe they also aren't making games their loyal fanbase once cared about. Or at least have been handling their precious IP's so wrong that I certainly do care less and haven't invested in a game from them in a while.
SE's mismanagement of its brand has been so laughably bad this gen its mind boggling. Not even getting into say FFXIII's quality, I'm more perplexed on why they haven't done HD releases of the PS2 era FF games, that Type 0, the one PSP game people here might want to play, isn't coming out in some fashion. The list of IPs that still hold some coin that have been neglected. That Versus has become a punchline, and that SE doesn't want to believe everyone knows its not coming out. Its amazing how clueless they are.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
No, I think FFXIV failing would do them permanent damage and force them to seek either a capital injection through a new share issuance or a bail out from Sony or Nintendo.
I think Sony will want to get their hands on both and you are likey right, Nintendo wouldn't turn up in the first place. Sega are in no position to shell out ¥80bn for a company they need to turn around. They don't have a strong enough balance sheet. Don't forget that even after all the problems Sony have ¥450bn in the bank and are raising ¥200bn in the next two quarters via asset sales and a convertible bond.
Riposte
Member
I'm pretty confident in saying The Last Remnant is better than FFXII. Though the former is clearly a JRPG while the later is more of an offline MMO game in terms of combat systems (particularly in the FFXI style).
They've already started the ad push and marketing hype a month ahead of time. GAF forgets that they are a small part of the overall video game public and most of the people who buy the new TR don't know what a NeoGAF is. Point being you can't gauge GAf's lack of interest in the title, vs how the general public will react.
Despite that, TR still is not going to sell well enough to bail SE out
They were talking about Japanese developed pc games when they said that. Hooray for shitty browser games!
Agreed. They really just need the Japanese and to some extent the European hardcore fanbase to sign up or switch from 11 to 14. That what made 11 so successful after all these years.
Honestly I don't care if Square Enix goes under. Yeah it would suck for all those people to lose their jobs but they will find jobs with other companies. As discussed countless times already, the Square that the hardcore RPG fans loved has been dead since the early PS2 era.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Erethian said:
It still follows that FFXIV is the culprit, given that rather than generating income at this point money is still being poured into development. And that in turn is displacing resources for the rest of their development slate, forcing them to outsource more in order to maintain completion dates.
It's also I think symptomatic of how in the HD console space, the bulk of the holiday-season sales are going to the same big franchises, year after year. What should be the most profitable quarter is getting diluted as big titled get bumped so as not to get starved out by the annualized heavy-hitters like CoD.
grimshawish
Banned
Maybe. I still think owning the entirety of FF would let them raise finances without selling their two major series.
That money will be spent elsewhere on more profitable ventures though.
How much does Sony actually get from FF+PS4? I mean in relation to Japan; MS isn't an issue. They can leave Final Fantasy to third parties.
It just strikes me as an investment they'd struggle to really make money back on compared to a third party who can sell the franchise on a mixture of platforms worldwide.
Guess I disagree at how much value it can bring a console manufacturer over a third party. It would be a coup; but I think it'd have limited effects on the market for Sony to see any real benefit.
BassForever
Member
Don't worry guys things will be all good when we launch even more expensive hardware this year that requires even more time and money to make AAAAAA games for...
ColonelColon
Member
It would be nice if they released Final Fantasy XIII trilogy for PC.
Why would anyone want that?
Fuck that.
disappeared
Banned
To be fair, it wasn't so much Square's decision to fuck up Hitman as it was IO's.
Glass Rebel
Member
I'd take FFIX or FFXII HD over that any day of the week.
AdventureRacing
Member
I don't think sony would do it but having FF become effectively a 1st party franchise would be pretty fucking big for sony (especially considering how weak their 1st party is in Japan).
ColonelColon
Member
Scarcity of JRPGs on PC and morbid curiosity.
Diddy Kong
Banned
Nintendo best be getting those Mario RPG characters
The money went to fixing Final Fantasy 14. That was an absolute disaster for Square Enix.
Glass Rebel
Member
But we already got their best console JRPG this gen :3
The problem is that their games this gen are Final Fantasy in name only.
Every company has been down towards the end of this cycle, but Square-Enix is really reaping what it's sown. They've squandered fan loyalty and, if not ruined, at least severely tarnished the reputations of some of the most storied franchises in gaming. THQ should be alive, and SE should've been chopped up and had its IP sold off like scrap.
BrokenEchelon
Banned
If you detached the Deus Ex IP from Square Enix, I think I would actually want them to go under at this point.
AranhaHunter
Banned
If?
I personally think SE should take a step back and focus on their home market. Whereas before they made games like KH, FF, Chrono, Xeno, Mana, DQ, SO, etc that were all big sellers per iteration and many of them sold over 1 million just in Japan, nowadays only DQ and FF are the big sellers, with the latter dropping GREATLY in this last generation. Reason for that are many, from major milking of franchises to poor quality of the game. Those can all be fixed though SE doesn't have the talent it used to have. A lot of folks left for Monolith or other companies. They are in a tough position at their home country with just DQ being a major player today.
Wada won't do that though, he'll continue his milking and trying to appeal to the west. If SE continues down this path, I can't help but wonder when they'll get bought out by someone else.
AranhaHunter
Banned
It BETTER be under. DQVII will do maybe a couple of mil in Japan and maybe another 500k - 1 million in the rest of the world. It is just a remake though with a fraction of the budget of a full on reboot like Tomb Raider. Considering it's almost certain FFXIV 2.0 will bomb and bomb hard, they cannot afford to have Tomb Raider bomba either.
If it was Sony or MS buying them I'm not sure they would spin off Eidos. Sony would probably move Eidos under SOE so PC games would continue and MS would probably just keep it Xbox exclusive. If it was Nintendo I could see it though.
Father_Brain
Banned
Particularly in Japan, I'd say. I don't see things ending well for any Japanese developer that goes all in on PS4/Durango development in an attempt to compete in the Western AAA market (see: Agni's Philosophy).
RPGCrazied
Member
Are they really expecting a big profit with Tomb Raider? Can't say I'm really interested in the game, but good luck I guess.
Kill Your Masters
Member
The company that makes Final Fantasy games made shit HD (final fantasy) games this gen. They failed. Their fault.
slightconfuse
Banned
Lightning Retuns: square Enix profits
AranhaHunter
Banned
SE owns the DQ IP but doesn't develop them without Horii's approval. However, if they were to get bought out, the parent company would force Horii to play ball or GTFO.
I agree that 80B Y is overpaying for SE at this point, even when their stock says they are worth more than that. Sony, however, doesn't have any presence in Japan, one of the reasons Vita is struggling there. Had they owned SE, DQVIIR and Bravely Default would be vita exclusive, ensuring a huge, system selling franchise would be on the system. Sony needs SE more than Nintendo needs them.
I've had no interest in playing any of their new games. I wish they'd do more HD remakes of older games, but they're already doing some of them. I'd pay $20+ for a Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger HD remake for instance. I didn't buy Hitman because of the sexist ad campaign, which totally turned me off from the game, and I'm afraid Tomb Raider might be no different. Deus Ex could have been better. And speaking of the Eidos games, what happened to that Thief sequel? Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 were weak. I think most people were disappointed from how linear the first game was. I'm not even going to go into the Final Fantasy mmo(s).
It isn't the "'increasingly difficult' console market" but instead of their poor choices. There are plenty of games, developers, and publishers who are finding success in the current market. The problem is that they're doing not-so popular things with their most popular brands, such as Final Fantasy, and putting a lot of development into the Eidos brands that are returning with disappointing results.
It isn't the "'increasingly difficult' console market" but instead of their poor choices. There are plenty of games, developers, and publishers who are finding success in the current market. The problem is that they're doing not-so popular things with their most popular brands, such as Final Fantasy, and putting a lot of development into the Eidos brands that are returning with disappointing results.
And kill the golden goose?
Might as well ask for Toriyama to make the next Tactics game.
They're putting a ton of marketing behind Tomb Raider, I'm seeing ads everywhere. My own feeling is that it'll probably do rather well.
However, their insistance of NOT doing a remake of Final Fantasy 7 is baffling. Regardless of how much money it might cost to redo that game, SO many people have fond memories of it that I find it difficult they wouldn't make stupid amounts of cash from it. I've been playing RPGs since Dragon Warrior on the NES, and I remember when FF7 hit, THAT was when the public noticed RPGs. Regardless of the actual quality of the game, nostalgia is a powerful force.
If what they're concerned about is money, and given All the Bravest I can't say they're going for much else, they could fill their bank by just doing a FF7 remake.
I hate what Square has become as much as anyone else. I grew up with their games, and it sucks to see them like this. I can't hold out much hope for their future these days, as they seem almost stubornly trying to kill themselves off, but hey, who knows.
However, their insistance of NOT doing a remake of Final Fantasy 7 is baffling. Regardless of how much money it might cost to redo that game, SO many people have fond memories of it that I find it difficult they wouldn't make stupid amounts of cash from it. I've been playing RPGs since Dragon Warrior on the NES, and I remember when FF7 hit, THAT was when the public noticed RPGs. Regardless of the actual quality of the game, nostalgia is a powerful force.
If what they're concerned about is money, and given All the Bravest I can't say they're going for much else, they could fill their bank by just doing a FF7 remake.
I hate what Square has become as much as anyone else. I grew up with their games, and it sucks to see them like this. I can't hold out much hope for their future these days, as they seem almost stubornly trying to kill themselves off, but hey, who knows.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
Well... I suppose they're hardly going to come out and make a tearful admission that they made all the wrong decisions this generation. They're banking on Tomb Raider, really? That series has been rebooted and remade more times than I care to remember.
Can't say I've ever been a die-hard fan of Square Enix in the past, a casual enjoyment of the Kingdom Hearts series is about as far as I've gotten, but I recognize their past accolades, and it's a little sad on behalf of the fans I suppose to see where they're headed.
Can't say I've ever been a die-hard fan of Square Enix in the past, a casual enjoyment of the Kingdom Hearts series is about as far as I've gotten, but I recognize their past accolades, and it's a little sad on behalf of the fans I suppose to see where they're headed.