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[Jinko]

Sounds like good news to me. Don't rebuild the wheel, and instead build on top of other mature technologies such as Cry3, Unity4 and Unreal4. I'm looking forward to an SE that is capable of actually releasing games in a timely manner.

FFXIV has proven they are capable of quick (re)development, its a shame they spent so much effort on Luminous I hope that doesn't go to waste cause it was looking pretty decent.

If this means we will get more original SNES style SE games on Android and iOS I am actually fine with that. I liked Final Fantasy Dimensions far more than any other console SE game since FF12. Nothing wrong with focusing on smaller shorter 2D RPGs for a few years, as long as they are truly original games and not more remakes.

Wasn't Dimensions episodic when it first came out though and really expensive ?, plus there is two sides to this coin, All the Bravest for example.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

This chart is so telling. Dedicated game consoles will always occupy a tiny niche of the relative market. Maybe that works well for your business plan. Likely it doesn't. Not with so many other options avaiable.

 

[finalboss2]

Crappy graphs in excel is the best they could do for their investors?

 

[Jinko]

This chart is so telling. Dedicated game consoles will always occupy a tiny niche of the relative market. Maybe that works well for your business plan. Likely it doesn't. Not with so many other options avaiable.

How so ? 3 of those bars are forecasts, for all we know the mobile space could crash at some point.

 

[Aostia]

Bravely Default 2 has been heavily hinted at. It's definitely coming.

yes I know. and I hope so

 

[luca1980]

What a mess. Who could have imagined this type of outcome for Square Enix 7 years ago?
I don't think focusing on smartphones and "regional" content is going to help them very much at all. Just make the games people want to play.

Half of the fans hating Wada for the focus only on ff first (ok no more gears, ok no more chrono, ok no more main jrpg aside ff) and than on milking on it without releasing mainline new chapters as fast as before and putting out only team 1 titles with few exceptions (ff12) So basically everyone not happy with x-2, fabula nova, ff7 compilation, advent children. May I continue? Lol.

Ok end of old fan rant. Basically they focused to much on ff and on sub franchise of it without making new ff mainline. So really it was expected from a while

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

This chart is so telling. Dedicated game consoles will always occupy a tiny niche of the relative market. Maybe that works well for your business plan. Likely it doesn't. Not with so many other options avaiable.

Yeah, but it's rather a stacked projection. In theory, every last cellphone or tablet buyer is a customer, but in reality, i'd wager many have no interest in games. For many, it's a work/home phone, laptop replacement, ereader, etc.

It's like PC's. In theory, the game market should be billions of users, but outside some flash and facebook games, no one comes close to that. SE could shift to making farmville/angry birds style stuff, but it doesn't pull in the same profits for most companies that their traditional games would.

 

[Jinko]

Yeah, but it's rather a stacked projection. In theory, every last cellphone or tablet buyer is a customer, but in reality, i'd wager many have no interest in games. For many, it's a work/home phone, laptop replacement, ereader, etc.

Exactly, I would be willing to bet that 70% of the mobile marletplace won;t even consider spending money on apps/games most of the time.

 

[Dragon]

If Chaos Rings is an indication of what SE means by concentrating on smartphones/tablets count me out.

 

[Scum]

So, Nintendo and Sony are the best things' to happen to SE as of now. One is publishing and the other is supposedly helping with development.
This E3 will mark 7 years, 7 fucking years(!), since the announcement of FFvsXIII.

 

[Zwei]

Square Enix are dead to me.

 

[PshycoNinja]

Exactly, I would be willing to bet that 70% of the mobile marletplace won;t even consider spending money on apps/games most of the time.

Did you know that 83% of statistics are made up on the spot :].

Anyways, I concur. It's much like the PC space where, yes you can play games, most use it for work/daily life. Not as an entertainment device.

Are the statistics true. Maybe. They are probably skewed to make it look better then it actually is. Mobile games are hear to stay but for established game publishers to try and buy their way into the mobile bubble will find themselves unsuccessful.

There are mobile publishers and then there's video game publishers. Which one does Square Enix want to be. You can't have it all.

 

[Snakeyes]

Where does it say that they're nuking Luminous?

 

[LuuKyK]

Ugh, posted in the wrong thread before... But anyway:

Square if you dont sort everything out and keep having problems, just cut costs overall and keep the focus on doing final fantasies and kingdom hearts, yearly outputs from ff alone from different teams inside the company would be a start. Im sure no one will complain about the abscence of shit tier franchises like tomb raider and hitman. Simple.

And cut the reducionist view over yourself. You are the biggest third party developer of Japan and one of the biggest in the world. AND hold the biggest and best IP of all the japanese franchises. You will do just fine ffs...

 

[Soriku]

Where does it say that they're nuking Luminous?

They're not, but they're focusing less on tech and more on sales/marketing. So I guess people really wanting SE to push the envelope next gen will be disappointed.

Not that the games still won't look good though...

 

[Platinumstorm]

I better get a big pile of dirt for all the shovel-ware.

 

[AstroNut325]

Is this chart due to Square's emphasis on Japan where mobile gaming is much more predominant? Otherwise it just doesn't make sense. They're banking heavily on smartphones to carry them in the future.

 

[DJIzana]

I... I am EXTREMELY less likely to buy a PS4 now. Square Enix was a major player in consoles. Obviously it all went downhill since FFXIV 1.0 and XIII but I'm hoping other Japanese companies don't follow their decision. At least... I hope Sega doesn't.

 

[Snakeyes]

I... I am EXTREMELY less likely to buy a PS4 now. Square Enix was a major player in consoles. Obviously it all went downhill since FFXIV 1.0 and XIII but I'm hoping other Japanese companies don't follow their decision. At least... I hope Sega doesn't.

Capcpom got yo back.

 

[Snakeyes]

They're not, but they're focusing less on tech and more on sales/marketing. So I guess people really wanting SE to push the envelope next gen will be disappointed.

Not that the games still won't look good though...

I'm sure they'll still push graphics for their biggest titles... It just makes no sense to develop an engine from scratch to barely use its potential afterwards.

 

[CronoShot]

If Chaos Rings is an indication of what SE means by concentrating on smartphones/tablets count me out.

?

I'm playing through Chaos Rings II now and it's pretty good so far. Excellent music too.

 

[Kagari]

Half of the fans hating Wada for the focus only on ff first (ok no more gears, ok no more chrono, ok no more main jrpg aside ff) and than on milking on it without releasing mainline new chapters as fast as before and putting out only team 1 titles with few exceptions (ff12) So basically everyone not happy with x-2, fabula nova, ff7 compilation, advent children. May I continue? Lol.

Ok end of old fan rant. Basically they focused to much on ff and on sub franchise of it without making new ff mainline. So really it was expected from a while

I would add that they played it too safe and didn't really explore newer ideas either.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

I would add that they played it too safe and didn't really explore newer ideas either.

SE also like so many Japanese companies going into next gen with out any new IPs on consoles while destroying there old ones .
They to big to be putting so much into smart phone but also to small to bring out HD games on time .
Going to be interesting to see what going to happen to them next gen but i don''t think this plan going to work unless they can bring 3 to 4 big games every year .

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

This chart is so telling. Dedicated game consoles will always occupy a tiny niche of the relative market. Maybe that works well for your business plan. Likely it doesn't. Not with so many other options avaiable.

Am I reading this wrong or are Hd games still the biggest sector for SE.

 

[EinSof]

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.

Its a bigger market than console gaming and has way more potential for growth and profits than the console market. All of Square's Smartphone games do extremely well, especially in Asia. Gree and League of Legends has proven that. Console gaming is a relic of the past. Its nice for a couple of games here and there, but the investment is too high and the outcome is too volatile.

Smarter for them to run to low-cost, high-yield investments like smartphone games. Everyone is doing it because it makes more sense. Smartphone hasn't even come close to market saturation yet, but consoles have.

 

[Eusis]

What a mess. Who could have imagined this type of outcome for Square Enix 7 years ago?
I don't think focusing on smartphones and "regional" content is going to help them very much at all. Just make the games people want to play.

Well, I figured they were on a slide in relevance for myself (I had been a blind "16-bit Squaresoft is best Squaresoft!" during the 32-bit generation, and during the PS2 days I just lamented how they had fewer new IPs), the big question was how it'd happen. I almost expect "self destructing" to be the ultimate end point, where they just sell off their game publishing and what remains is a manga publisher and figurine company. :/

 

[Teknoman]

Its a bigger market than console gaming and has way more potential for growth and profits than the console market. All of Square's Smartphone games do extremely well, especially in Asia. Gree and League of Legends has proven that. Console gaming is a relic of the past. Its nice for a couple of games here and there, but the investment is too high and the outcome is too volatile.

Smarter for them to run to low-cost, high-yield investments like smartphone games. Everyone is doing it because it makes more sense. Smartphone hasn't even come close to market saturation yet, but consoles have.

A relic of the past is a little much dont you think? It just seems like they need to have a little more focus instead of spreading dev teams. A couple projects in the works at a time makes sense, but that doesnt mean they need to be a majority mobile dev. This gen they just stretched themselves too thin along with too many side projects and misdirection on XIV 1.0.

New properties would have most likely worked wonders for them too... as long as they didnt pull a Capcom and completely wreck new properties they introduced (Lost Planet).

 

[Trogdor1123]

jesus... sad to see a company move over to creating crap and embracing it rather than trying to actually fix what was wrong with what they were doing...

 

[Nirolak]

Am I reading this wrong or are Hd games still the biggest sector for SE.

Yes, while their relevance is shrinking, it's still the core of the company.

 

[Teknoman]

What gets me is (as previously stated by others), they are more than capable of fixing and creating a beautiful game that plays well (FFXIV transformation into a realm reborn).

 

[Nirolak]

What gets me is (as previously stated by others), they are more than capable of fixing and creating a beautiful game that plays well (FFXIV transformation into a realm reborn).

I think the fear is more that they might not sell enough to justify what they spend doing that.

Like Tomb Raider reviewed well, but didn't hit their astronomical targets.

Will FFXIV, what is almost assuredly their most expensive game by far, reach what they want it to? It's not overly likely given the state of the MMO market.

They also want to increase margin (their profit:investment ratio), which is currently pretty bad judging by the diagram with the circles in the OP. Investing in expensive games that don't sell a ton, even if they break even or make a small profit, are very damaging to their margins.

This is the same reason you see companies like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft doubling down on a very small number of titles even if they could make more titles that were profitable, but less profitable than their main ones.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Its a bigger market than console gaming and has way more potential for growth and profits than the console market. All of Square's Smartphone games do extremely well, especially in Asia. Gree and League of Legends has proven that. Console gaming is a relic of the past. Its nice for a couple of games here and there, but the investment is too high and the outcome is too volatile.

Smarter for them to run to low-cost, high-yield investments like smartphone games. Everyone is doing it because it makes more sense. Smartphone hasn't even come close to market saturation yet, but consoles have.

It'll be interesting to see how accurate your prediction is, whether these markets will grow tired of the mobile game offerings and how or if SE will be able to profit from it. I personally think it's a bubble just waiting to burst.

 

[Pinko Marx]

Square Enix are dead to me.

I'm really close to this point. Really close.
It BAFFLES me how the company that created FINAL GODDAMN FANTASY could have fallen so damn far.
So damn far.

 

[Lebron]

Sakaguchi won

 

[Meccanical]

Sakaguchi won

 

[Pinko Marx]

I think I need to join a support group or something.

 

[Mario007]

Sakaguchi won

Square's still a long way from making surfing iOS games.

 

[Zee-Row]

Smartphone focus means that Square Enix is dead to me. I just want Dragon Quest IX and X.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Is the reaosn why the 2010 year has such a large income form HD gaming because of FF 13.?

If so their forecast cold indicate they don't have a final fantasy coming this year, so next FF fall 2014 maybe?

 

[luca1980]

I would add that they played it too safe and didn't really explore newer ideas either.

Yes these things also.
And IMHO it is really astonishing just to think on their many franchise they forgot.
I mean one can think about Altus with persona 3&4 remakes. Than one think about gears, chrono cross, ff7-8-9, vagrat story and not even a decent remake on a vita or hd remaster. Only ffx and ffx-2 which are recent are remade ad with what an effort and long wait. Astonishing.
It's really amazing given the poor track record of many things that we were given tactics ogre remake meanwhile. Really a godsend and with Matsuno. Incredible.

 

[Teknoman]

Smartphone focus means that Square Enix is dead to me. I just want Dragon Quest IX and X.

VII you mean? IX has been out for awhile now.

 

[CorvoSol]

What gets me is (as previously stated by others), they are more than capable of fixing and creating a beautiful game that plays well (FFXIV transformation into a realm reborn).

Don't forget Type-0! I mean, Square did, but you shouldn't!

 

[Mandoric]

Agreed, I feel this is one of the biggest problem in the gaming industry right now, that and overblown budgets, its not just SE it applies to either.

Maybe SE should consider lowering their HD production values, other JRPG companies do just fine targeting much lower.

Other JRPG companies also sell, charitably, a tenth as many copies.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

I... I am EXTREMELY less likely to buy a PS4 now. Square Enix was a major player in consoles. Obviously it all went downhill since FFXIV 1.0 and XIII but I'm hoping other Japanese companies don't follow their decision. At least... I hope Sega doesn't.

Didn't sega last year say they will be focusing on digital/mobile titles going forward?

 

[Septimus Prime]

How it's future strategy? It's their old strategy. MMOs, iOS games, etc.

That and SaGa Frontier 2 are the only good SaGa games. All the others are so, so bad.

 

[10k]

Here's my new plan for square Enix.

Release Lightning returns and then let FFXIII die.
Remake all FF's in HD.
Release Versus.

Make money. Live off of nostalgia. Print money n

Lol.

 

[DJIzana]

Didn't sega last year say they will be focusing on digital/mobile titles going forward?

They said digital but I don't think they said mobile. The mobile part is what I dislike. I don't care about the digital part.

 

[Labadal]

Wada, please come back!

 

[djtiesto]

they should stop making shit games then

They have 3 excellent games which they released over the past 2 years (Bravely Default, Type 0 and DQ7 remix)... none of which are currently in America. And that's the problem. The "regional game development" scares me the most, as someone who doesn't particularly care for Eidos and is wanting some more quality Japanese developed games to reach our shores.

 

[dramatis]

Wada, please come back!

I thought it would take at least a year before anybody said these words or some version of it.