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Square Enix will "aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs"



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Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
It is clear as day that 3rd party going exclusive to one platform is stupid af strategy, which will only hurt your company, devs and games, rather than help. The thing is though, that outside of FF.... Square has absolutely nothing of the same magnitude and it's a huge problem they need to work on fixing.
 
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ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
(2) Diversify earnings opportunities by strengthening customer contact points

• Shift to a multiplatform strategy

For HD titles, the Group will aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs. Especially, in regards to major franchises and AAA titles including catalog titles, it will build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles.

In addition, it will also devise a platform strategy for SD titles that includes not only iOS and Android, but also the possibility of PC launches.

Furthermore, the Group will strive to maximize the acquisition of new users when launching a title and that of recurring users after starting management of game operation.

• Building continuous customer contact points of our titles by stepping up digital sales

The Group will strengthen user flow of digital sales of new titles at the time of launch regarding the initiatives of promotion. In addition, it will generate the opportunity of generating revenue in our rich catalog titles' line-up, which leads to strengthen its earnings base by expanding sales of catalog titles.

Moreover, the Group will engage in initiatives which focus on the acquisition of PC users.

Not sure if it is too late at this point of time to shift prioritization to PC. Anyway, doubt.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
But wasn’t PS/Nintendo/PC like their default strategy except for some titles.

Honestly I don’t see why releasing for Xbox makes any sense, Xbox doesn’t sell and Japanese games sell much less on the Xbox.
 

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
This reads like a fluff for investors to be honest. Aside from Remake project everything is already everywhere, bar 16 that will be out on PC too.

If anything, it more about Switch exclusivity and PC day-one.
 
There's little point in releasing games on Xbox though, going forward. And that goes for any game, regardless of publisher.

Multiplatform PS/PC/Nintendo releases make sense.

But wasn’t PS/Nintendo/PC like their default strategy except for some titles.

Honestly I don’t see why releasing for Xbox makes any sense, Xbox doesn’t sell and Japanese games sell much less on the Xbox.

Do you have numbers how much something like Elden Ring or Hogwarts Legacy sold on Xbox??

BTW SE isn’t making jrpgs anymore. They want more wide appealing titles like Elden Ring. One of their execs was annoyed by term jrpg.
 

Robb

Gold Member
Sounds pretty great. Hopefully they’ll be able to work on all those versions efficiently without a dip in quality though. That’s probably the biggest worry for me.
 
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ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Do you have numbers how much something like Elden Ring or Hogwarts Legacy sold on Xbox??

BTW SE isn’t making jrpgs anymore. They want more wide appealing titles like Elden Ring. One of their execs was annoyed by term jrpg.

Okay then maybe let’s see the sales numbers of the SE Xbox titles and let’s get talking.
 

cireza

Member
Great news. They are finally going to embrace what being a third party means. They will have to compete against others and will be able to reach a larger market and eventually sell more. Players will get to play better games. This is how it should be.

Okay then maybe let’s see the sales numbers of the SE Xbox titles and let’s get talking.
Oh so you don't even know them, yet you can say that they are bad ? Come on, don't be this guy. This is not necessary. Nothing is being taken from you by release games on all platforms.
 
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Killjoy-NL

Member
Do you have numbers how much something like Elden Ring or Hogwarts Legacy sold on Xbox??

BTW SE isn’t making jrpgs anymore. They want more wide appealing titles like Elden Ring. One of their execs was annoyed by term jrpg.
No idea, but were they released before or after the big Xbox Business Update?
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Great news. They are finally going to embrace what being a third party means. They will have to compete against others and will be able to reach a larger market and eventually sell more. Players will get to play better games. This is how it should be.


Oh so you don't even know them, yet you can say that they are bad ? Come on, don't be this guy. This is not necessary. Nothing is being taken from you by release games on all platforms.
Not saying it’s bad but is it even worth it now to port to Xbox. Like at its current state and how things are going?

Like I’ll give you a perfect example: Persona 3/4/5 were being aggressively marketed for Xbox (and it’s also coming to the Switch) last year but where did majority of the sales end up? The hint is not Xbox (it’s the Switch).
 
The Switch 2 coming out will drastically change things, especially for "Eastern" developers that don't pursue cutting edge graphics. Not to mention smaller AA and AAA studios potentially reaching a growing market that will surely be over 100+ million in a few years. This is a good thing for the industry
 
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FewRope

Member
Not saying it’s bad but is it even worth it now to port to Xbox. Like at its current state and how things are going?

Like I’ll give you a perfect example: Persona 3/4/5 were being aggressively marketed for Xbox (and it’s also coming to the Switch) last year but where did majority of the sales end up? The hint is not Xbox (it’s the Switch).

The Metaphor marketing is histerical, Atlus is really really lucky their games have a lot of word of mouth and they are a stablished developer because that game would be dead on arrival. Imagine Unicorn Overlord marketed like any Atlus game lmao
 

Fabieter

Member
They also said smaller games are a problem for them but they are already multiplatform for the most part. So what is it?
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Good luck with the Xbox sales I guess

I think they also expect good luck with PC and Switch 2 sales too!

Not saying it’s bad but is it even worth it now to port to Xbox. Like at its current state and how things are going?

Like I’ll give you a perfect example: Persona 3/4/5 were being aggressively marketed for Xbox (and it’s also coming to the Switch) last year but where did majority of the sales end up? The hint is not Xbox (it’s the Switch).



You’ve left out the fact that the game was put on GamePass day one, haven’t you? Not to mention this is a split for boxed charts only, and Xbox tends to skew digital at a higher % than other platforms.
 
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Astray

Member
Their issues go beyond mere exclusivity, I talked about it on another thread, their whole pipeline needs adjusting or it will just flop again without Sony money.

I don't understand why there's a weird insistence that taking timed exclusivity is the problem in itself, when the truth is far from that.

The biggest problem with Square is its huge reliance on being the best at bringing spectacle-heavy story-telling to JRPG subgenre (especially true after they divested the western studios), which is a genre that is by definition very long (40 hours is considered short-ish).

Right now the console/PC customers are almost all millenials, who are now cash-rich, but time-poor, this customer base simply cannot find the time to play all the JRPGs that Square launches, and no one just buys games for their backlog, hence under-performance.

Another problem is that Final Fantasy has been far too experimental even in its heyday, almost nothing has been built on, and the fanbase is divided between art styles, story tonalities and battle systems. This is disasterous when your big games cost so much because now you don't have a guaranteed number of day 1 sales. Also note that their home market has largely been dominated by the Nintendo Switch, the weakest dedicated gaming device short of emulator handhelds, this now means that Square can't really extend games like FF7R 1/2 to their home market properly.. If they could then they would have refused the Sony money already.

You look at the success stories in the JRPG subgenre right now (Sega/Atlus and some smaller devs like Falcom and Gust etc), and they all tend to create their games with as much re-usage of assets as possible, while continually iterating on mechanics to keep the fanbase as united and engaged as possible.

If they want to remain with the high-fidelity approach, then Square needs to get equipped properly to be able to deliver the games that have wide appeal in the markets where high-performance consoles thrive (basically focus on the western market entirely like From Software/Capcom are doing), either that or drop the high-def graphics and start pumping out dual releases for Switch/PS to win the JPN market again.
 
Okay then maybe let’s see the sales numbers of the SE Xbox titles and let’s get talking.

FF15 is estimated to be 1 million+. It tends to be 10% of total sales. Monster Hunter titles also its 10% or more.

Good investment I would say, especially when you are aiming to make multi million selling titles.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
I think they also expect good luck with PC and Switch 2 sales too!




You’ve left out the fact that the game was put on GamePass day one, haven’t you? Not to mention this is a split for boxed charts only, and Xbox tends to skew digital at a higher % than other platforms.

It ranked #12 if that matters:

Also isn’t P5 gone from GamePass since October last year? Also didn’t they also remove P4G and P3 just earlier this year from GamePass.

I dunno but using GamePass as a metric is difficult, that’s like yung PS+ as a sales metric.
 

Mister Wolf

Gold Member
Not having your game day one on PC, hurts PC sales. No way around that. The exclusive money isn't worth missing out on that many day one full price purchases. You make PC players wait a year or more and they'll just wait even longer at that point until they see it on sale or deep discount.
 
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ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Wow. Seems like everyone's breaking away from exclusivity deals. Wonder who that's going to hurt?
Tbh I’m all for PC, Mobile, PS and Switch multiplatform. It’s the Xbox I’m shaky about. SE did multi platform last gen and it wasn’t fantastic on Xbox, what more now though and with Xbox cratering and going multiplatform now.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Just give me a ff7 remaster, true to the original.




 

cireza

Member
Not saying it’s bad but is it even worth it now to port to Xbox. Like at its current state and how things are going?

Like I’ll give you a perfect example: Persona 3/4/5 were being aggressively marketed for Xbox (and it’s also coming to the Switch) last year but where did majority of the sales end up? The hint is not Xbox (it’s the Switch).

You have no clue of how interesting it is for SEGA/Atlus to release these games on Xbox. This is purely speculation on your part. You are not factoring in money made through Game Pass, and you are not including the advantages provided by marketing through Xbox. You also think that Xbox aren't going to do anything while we know there is a show coming in June. Do you really expect them to not offer some new incentive to invest in their ecosystem ? There are good chances they have some new hardware coming.
 
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