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Square Enix's New Plan: Spend way less money, work on smartphones, dev regional games

Pooya

Member
welp.

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http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/13q4slides.pdf

well, this is slides only, actual briefing accompanying these comes out in a few days.

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new team

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Mael

Member
Toriyama to be installed as chief story writer for all games. Watch the profits roll in.

That's as good a strategy as what they're doing really, they're banking the farm on the smartphone craze.
they'll run that into the ground even more quickly than the industry cratered the facebook craze.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Simple solution, go back to making games that made your company great in the first place.
 

Zukuu

Banned
Aaaaand they still dont get it.

First off, they need to realize one crucial thing: Just because there are so many mobile devices doesn't mean that even a fraction is interested in (your) games, where as on a game console you have almost a 100% gamers owning that system. They're simply fooled by the sheer numbers.

Another thing is that "tailoring to severed regions" is exactly what made them fall down to begin with. They used to make "good games" instead of making games that are customized to appeal to a certain demographic and region. Make a good game and it'll sell. It's THAT easy, that they are not seeing the forest for the trees.
 
Instead how about you make something your fan base actually wants instead of faffing about for a entire console generation making Final Fantasy XIII sequels no one asked for and MMO's no one wants to play?
 
Shamelessly cross quote from their earnings thread

This spread out releaselist would be ideal for SE(entirely about high profile rpgs, eidos and mobiles not included)

2013
FFXIV A Realm Reborn
KH1.5
FFX/X2 HD

2014
FFvsXIII renamed whatever
KH2.5 (KH2, BBs, recoded movie)

2015
FF15
KH collection etc


2016
KH3
DQXI?

2017-18 (20th anniversary)
FF7 Remake
 

2+2=5

The Amiga Brotherhood
I don't like the sound of the "portfolio tailored to consumer tastes in respective served region" thing.
 

vareon

Member
I'm pretty sure there's a detailed plan for the "new" strategies, but taken out of context it all reads "No shit, son."
 
I am not very smart, but I have trouble imagining what Square is thinking in focusing on the mobile Market. I have trouble believing the minds of the industry( a lot of others as well) nowadays only see and think in numbers, if only it was effective to their purposes as their entry into MMO was.... At this rate, Squaresoft's game dev credit will die.
 

Mengetsu

Member


But yes all joking aside Square isn't doing well with consoles as of late. Is it there fault? In some aspect yes but, with this generation coming to a close soon there have been more than few companies that have fallen off the horse or have gone out of business all together. I hope they do something soon because I'll be sad the day console gaming as we know it goes the way of the arcades. Very few and far in between.
 
Any chance smartphones are bringing in money because they're actually releasing games for the platform? It's hard to gauge console sales when your portfolio is so small.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I am not very smart, but I have trouble imagining what Square is thinking in focusing on the mobile Market. I have trouble believing the minds of the industry( a lot of others as well) nowadays only see and think in numbers. At this rate, Squaresoft's game dev credit will die.

What do you mean will die?

That shits been dead and buried for some time now for the most part.
 

UberTag

Member
That tiny stagnant strip of light green is our hallowed ground.
Square Enix could care less about us and is instead looking to pave the way forward with more titles like All the Bravest.

Soon the only Square Enix games we'll be buying are smartphone time wasters like KooZac (which, incidentally I've got almost all of the achievements for).

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Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Oh boy, smartphone games.

Thanks for not letting me give you money for Type-0, Versus, an HD Vita port of Crisis Core, and all that other stuff SE.
 

raven777

Member
Any chance smartphones are bringing in money because they're actually releasing games for the platform? It's hard to gauge console sales when your portfolio is so small.

considering how much money Kauku-san-sei Millian Arthur probably makes, its not just about having games on consoles or not.
 

ash_ag

Member
That sounds like the current strategy.

✓Final Fantasy Versus XIII
✓Final Fantasy ATB
✓Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Joking aside, these are some incredibly rough plans. Show us results, SE. Their western part is doing a top-notch job, and they should set the example for Japan to follow. Locate the real problem and eliminate it, and stop drowning on a teaspoon of water.

As for mobile games, I don't mind them. Develop them with dignity and for what they can offer. Treating mobile as the "easy-money" platform is a very myopic and short-term strategy that will kick them back. They have great examples, but also awful. Just like HD games aren't all pretty graphics and hours-long cutscenes, mobile games aren't all finger-tapping and micro-transitions. They should focus on what experiences a platform can best offer and develop corresponding games on each.
 

Pooya

Member
going by their net sales, I imagine they must have some unannounced games for this FY? because don't think they have something right now that can match the shipped sales of Tomb Raider/Hitman, ~7m units. They expect to be flat in net sales in Digital Ent. but this time with actual operating income :p could be FF14/LR crazy expectations though...
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
So you want Square-Enix to go under? 10000000000000x more people play games on iOS/Android than Vita

Though its a totally different consumer base in terms of potential spending. Unless they go and get lucky with some sort of new F2P game.

Vita sales are actually going up domestically along with titles being released. So Id say by next year there would be a potentially decent market. Along with the fact that with the VITA works great for all of those PS classic games which they have 600+? titles of on the JP PSN.
 
Anyone see a problem here? No decline on consoles predicted... that's rich.

By far the most interesting thing in the presentation. I wonder if this will mean Square-Enix intends to create dedicated smartphone studios or just ship all of the HD production to Montreal and turn IO Interactive and Japan into a mobile development house.
 

Cheebo

Banned
Though its a totally different consumer base in terms of potential spending. Unless they go and get lucky with some sort of new F2P game.

Vita sales are actually going up domestically along with titles being released. So Id say by next year there would be a potentially decent market. Along with the fact that with the VITA works great for all of those PS classic games which they have 600+? titles of on the JP PSN.
They have to making money on mobile (they already put a lot of games on it) to embrace it so heavily. .
 

Glass Rebel

Member

The first point is obviously the most important. Their output on the HD side has been abysmal this gen since they were caught with their pants down and weren't able to manage for shit. Final Fantasy XIV: ARR and Lightning Returns better be successes for them and pray to god Versus isn't coming out at least on PS3.

I don't like the sound of "target smart devices". Like, at all. That market alone won't be able to sustain a company of the size of Square-Enix but it seems they're betting farm on it.

The third point is basically a kick in the balls for any JRPG fan in the West I fear. Not like they're doing many interesting JRPGs anyway.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Just for a clarification: Square includes portables too (3DS, DS, Vita, PSP) in the HD segment. Don't know why, but they've always done this.
 
Is it just me or does the colour key for 'Tablets' not match the colour that's in the bar?

SE can't even do bar charts right, so what hope have we got for their games output???
 

Cheebo

Banned
I bet we will see a day in the not too distant future where a main line dragon quest game goes to mobile as its primary platform.
 

Ikael

Member
This reads like "our future strategy is keep doing what we have been doing so far". S-E is still headed for disaster, I see.
 
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