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Nirolak · May 28, 2015

Seems they've finally learned.

They now forecast conservative sales numbers and try to exceed them instead of expecting breakout hits.

First, HD games in the Digital Entertainment segment. Launches in FY2016/3 will mainly be titles for the Western market. We are planning several releases of major titles in the second half. We expect the competitive environment to be tough, with our competitors announcing big titles in the E3 in June. We believe our titles can fully compete with these big titles, however, as I will explain later, we have been conservative in our forecast for FY2016/3. We are confident about the quality of each title, and will aim at a level far beyond our current forecast.

Source: http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/ir/library/docs/150512/page06.html

Escalario · May 28, 2015

Maybe now they will localize Final Fantasy Explorers (`･ω･´)

Trago · May 28, 2015

So instead of 5-6 million sales expectations, they'd make it 2-4 maybe?

Perhaps they learned something with Tomb Raider and such.

SerTapTap · May 28, 2015

Good. A lot of the gross problems of last gen seem tied to greatly inflated sales expectations. And as a gamer I would much rather they consistently release quality, decent hits than repeated attempts to be super #1 extreme the best hits and can everything that isn't. Way too many franchises have fallen on that sword.

2thepoint · May 28, 2015

I really like the direction the new CEO is taking.

He seems great.

R1CHO · May 28, 2015

Are they also lowering budgets then?

desmax · May 28, 2015

Ooh, great.

Zophar · May 28, 2015

One hopes they will also start to invest more in the mid-level space. There is room for titles in the spaces between mobile and AAA blockbusters.

On Demand · May 28, 2015

With TR being exclusive to XB you better.

Nirolak · May 28, 2015

R1CHO said:
Are they also lowering budgets then?

Given the amount of staff on the games, unlikely.

Perhaps marketing budgets though.

Lightning_Roller · May 28, 2015

This is a good start. Hope other companies follow suit.

Gamezone · May 28, 2015

On Demand said:
With TR being exclusive to XB you better.

Depends on how much Microsoft gave them. Surely they think it was worth it.

TheGeordie · May 28, 2015

>> One hopes they will also start to invest more in the mid-level space. There is room for titles in the spaces between mobile and AAA blockbusters.

No there isn't - not as long as pre-owned exists - the majority of people buy mid-range games second-hand and save the pennies for the big games which crucifies the developers.

Nirolak · May 28, 2015

Lightning_Roller said:
This is a good start. Hope other companies follow suit.

It's not too uncommon actually.

EA started doing this a while ago and now they went from a $3.5 billion market cap to a $20 billion market cap through increased investor confidence.

Gamezone · May 28, 2015

TheGeordie said:
>> One hopes they will also start to invest more in the mid-level space. There is room for titles in the spaces between mobile and AAA blockbusters.

No there isn't - not as long as pre-owned exists - the majority of people buy mid-range games second-hand and save the pennies for the big games which crucifies the developers.

Yeah, right..... Can you prove that? Even if you buy a used copy, you get far from the full experience.

dottme · May 28, 2015

Nirolak said:
Given the amount of staff on the games, unlikely.

Perhaps marketing budgets though.

If they expect less sales, I don't expect them to spend as much money as before. Marketing budget is one way to do it. But also better control on their development time might be a good idea. Seeing FF15 in "development " for so much time is not helping.

Mpl90 · May 28, 2015

Good that they'll have more reasonable expectations.

True Fire · May 28, 2015

Maybe this will increase our chances of getting Dragon Quest 7.

hahahahahaha

Scrawnton · May 28, 2015

I wish they would jump into the download games philosophy with their franchises. A Bravely Default game would be beautiful as a downloadable game on consoles. I think the market has proven that people are willing to buy games like that.

On Demand · May 28, 2015

Gamezone said:
Depends on how much Microsoft gave them. Surely they think it was worth it.

Limiting the games growth potential is not worth it for short term profits. I might not even want buy the game next year.

Camwi · May 28, 2015

Is this retroactive? Are we getting a Chrono Trigger sequel because of the DS version's sales?

Boke1879 · May 28, 2015

Gamezone said:
Depends on how much Microsoft gave them. Surely they think it was worth it.

Unless MS markets the hell out of it. With the fall being packed already I fear the new TR could potentially get lost in the shuffle

KoopaTheCasual · May 28, 2015

Nirolak said:
Given the amount of staff on the games, unlikely.

Perhaps marketing budgets though.

Good. We don't need Final Fantasy advertisements in the NBA anymore. Might as well flush wads of cash down the drain.

JuanLatino · May 28, 2015

i really like the new CEO, trying to keep the DNA of the studios while also making money with mobile market. Unlike some other studios who are abandoning their console market & the history of their studio

Atleast he is not saying that Call of Duty is their role model for future projects/the Final Fantasy Series

Kapi96 · May 28, 2015

About time they got normal expectations

Plywood · May 28, 2015

I hope their sales excite them.

vinnygambini · May 28, 2015

Nirolak said:
Given the amount of staff on the games, unlikely.

Perhaps marketing budgets though.

Correct.

Nintendo was able to decrease their marketing costs by 22% by using their resources more effectively - they cited social media and online ads, as oppose to TV Commercials in a Reuters report.

I'm thinking SE will do the same and we've seen such beginnings with their monthly reports.

KoopaTheCasual · May 28, 2015

JuanLatino said:
i really like the new CEO, trying to keep the DNA of the studios while also making money with mobile market. Unlike some other studios who are abandoning their console market & the history of their studio

Atleast he is not saying that Call of Duty is their role model for future projects/the Final Fantasy Series

People were so hesitant to take Matsuda's recent thoughts to heart, when Lightning Returns bombed, and both FFX and Bravely Default outsold it. It was truly like he had emerged from a rock with his delayed revelations.

Glad to see that actually was indicative of a change in direction, and not just empty lip-service.

Rymuth · May 28, 2015

BluenoseGames · May 28, 2015

This is a disappointment

Hyperzephyrian · May 28, 2015

BluenoseGames said:
This is a disappointment

You're insane.

Onemic · May 28, 2015

Now if only Capcom could learn too

Aureon · May 28, 2015

2thepoint said:
I really like the direction the new CEO is taking.

He seems great.

I'm gonna have to dig out some past threads.

I really, really can't believe we're saying this about a Square CEO!

I've liked the guy since he personally traveled to Dontnod to give them his congratulations, especially after they came out saying many, many pubs liked their game, but lamented the female protagonist - and only Square OK'd it.

Makoto Yuki · May 28, 2015

About time, probably because they decided to make Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox One Exclusive when the previous entry was on 5 different consoles, and that wasn't enough sales. Ironically I remember reading Tomb Raider sold more on the PS4 than the Xbox One.

Mendax · May 28, 2015

Gamezone said:
Depends on how much Microsoft gave them. Surely they think it was worth it.

do they? they might have thought it would be worth it. But with the way these install bases and sales number splits turned out I think it cannot be worth it.

BluenoseGames · May 28, 2015

Hyperzephyrian said:
You're insane.

I was being sarcastic :/

Newtype-001 · May 28, 2015

Finally using their brains i see, better late than never.

StrongBlackVine · May 28, 2015

On Demand said:
With TR being exclusive to XB you better.

Yep, like half what the reboot sold if they are lucky(and Microsoft bundles it for free).

BatDan · May 28, 2015

So does this mean Dragon Quest has a chance in the West?

Seven Force · May 28, 2015

I remember Namco-Bandai starting the same thing a year or two ago, and we've been seeing even more localizations than usual from them among seeing more games in general.

Would be cool to see this work our for S-E, too.

Hyperzephyrian · May 28, 2015

BluenoseGames said:
I was being sarcastic :/

Oh, sorry, friend. Here, have an apology kitten. :3

sn00zer · May 28, 2015

Im guessing a lot of Square Enix business modeling was based around Final Fantasy or DQ which have insanely high sales, and they just expected Eidos games to do the same.

Manu · May 28, 2015

Hyperzephyrian said:
Oh, sorry, friend. Here, have an apology kitten. :3

And now I forgot why I was in this thread.

Shiina · May 28, 2015

I thought these forecasts were just about pleasing investors until the next meeting where they issue a formal apology about disappointing them again, while promising more things for the future that are not going to happen either.

Megidolaon · May 28, 2015

Thank God. It was really bad last gen when they were saying how they wanted to make FFXIII more like Call of Duty and it wasn't gonna be an RPG but kinda its own genre.

Geez, JRPGs should not have to compare themselves sales-wise to GTA or CoD.

Philippo · May 28, 2015

Increading console output (compared to previous gen), more open to fans and feedback, realistic sales expectations... SE slowly turning back being good.

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Square Enix is now going with more reasonable sales expectations for their games

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