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[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Final Flop XVI

The game sucked

 

[Team Andromeda]

So then FF XVI will be on the XBox and PC soon.

 

[Hudo]

So then FF XVI will be on the XBox and PC soon.

at least PC is confirmed.

 

[Fabieter]

I'm not arguing that mobile and MMO aren't important. But long term, all of that is an extension of the prestige and health of their console business. One projects an image for the other. Their mobile stuff is huge in Japan, and their main console game got beat by Pikmin 4. It's a loose indication of waning interest in the IP more broadly. Stocks are also about looking ahead and seeing if you predict growth, and we know they don't have much coming up in the immediate future besides a remake, and we know their best team is going to be tied to that for potentially 2 more games. I don't see growth anywhere in the next several years except Dragon Quest. Like I keep saying, this is my opinion and I'm totally fine if you guys disagree.

The next ff xiv expansion is gonna be on xbox and maybe even switch 2. If that isn't helping them to grow nothing will.

I do hope they gonna fix themselves up before any buyout happens.

I hope so too any big buyout is bad for us, but I dont know what their options are. Going all in on classic style ff won't fix them.

 

[Northeastmonk]

XVI was not as groundbreaking as I wanted it to be. They’ll get my support for their remastered games. Classic Squaresoft was better. I am excited for Kingdom Hearts IV. Kinda sad how I’d rather have KH than FF. I had KH the day it came out. To be honest, Bandai Namco has been better than Square in the last decade.

 

[Hudo]

The next ff xiv expansion is gonna be on xbox and maybe even switch 2. If that isn't helping them to grow nothing will.



I hope so too any big buyout is bad for us, but I dont know what their options are. Going all in on classic style ff won't fix them.

Let's wait and see how KH4 and DQ12 do. If both of these game tank as well, then I dunno. Then maybe Square really is better off being bought by someone.

 

[Team Andromeda]

at least PC is confirmed.

They'll be looking for Phil's cheque book to help out too.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

If you want to actually be serious for a sec, Xbox seems to have been at about 20% of sales on FFXIII and FFXV. No one is claiming they are matching PS sales, but +20% is not nothing. And it also increases word of mouth and overall marketing footprint. Same can be said for PC sales which probably will be less than PS sales also, but still help on sales and marketing / word of mouth.

Lots of other companies are multiplatform, like Capcom and From Software. But SQEX can do whatever they want. It's clearly working out well for them.

An extra 20% sales wouldn't have prevented them not meeting their overinflated sales targets.

The problem with FFXVI was not it not launching on Xbox (lol). It was Square Enix's overinflated sales projections, which is evidenced by the fact that they did the same with all their Eidos games too. Square is just shit at sales projections.

 

[Games of Today]

I always look at these games like FF16 and Forspoken which I have zero interest in, even though I am starving for new games and will try almost anything that looks half decent, and wonder who is buying them? I guess the answer is, not many people.

People who like Final Fantasy. These aren't really made for anyone and if you go into it not knowing what FF is somehow, well you're going to be in for a surprise.

 

[Fabieter]

So then FF XVI will be on the XBox and PC soon.

why does it matter when xvi isn't a good game those platforms won't but it either. Seemingly there only way of salvation is doing turn based games like they used to 30 years ago.

 

[Punished Miku]

The next ff xiv expansion is gonna be on xbox and maybe even switch 2. If that isn't helping them to grow nothing will.

It's a good move for them. But like I was saying, multiplatform is about long term health and slowly building that audience and market - not immediate payoff. It may not be possible to just flip a switch and make Xbox gamers care instantly after being snubbed on their biggest games. I think expecting any significant immediate payoff for being multiplat is a mistake, especially if the game is coming out years later. They should do this with the expectation of payoff slowly over the next decade on future games.

 

[Hudo]

XVI was not as groundbreaking as I wanted it to be. They’ll get my support for their remastered games. Classic Squaresoft was better. I am excited for Kingdom Hearts IV. Kinda sad how I’d rather have KH than FF. I had KH the day it came out. To be honest, Bandai Namco has been better than Square in the last decade.

There is actually a portion of the Tales fanbase that right now claiming how FF16 is essentially just a bad Tales game.

Which, I dunno, seems to me like they insult not only FF but also themselves. Who knows. "Fans" are weird.

 

[PanzerCute]

Sad but logical.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I hope Nintendo buys Square just to piss you people off.

This would actually be amazing and probably makes the most sense. Square seem to do quite well with their nintendo projects and there's less risk.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Looking forward to regulators forcing Sony to keep all SE games multiplatform going forward as a purchase condition

Well they didn’t do that for anything else other than COD so I don’t see that being an issue for Sony TBH.

 

[Del_X]

Like I've said - exclusive 3rd party AAA development is not sustainable. They need day and date with PC at least, and likely with Xbox Series.

 

[Hudo]

This would actually be amazing and probably makes the most sense. Square seem to do quite well with their nintendo projects and there's less risk.

Maybe Nintendo buys the Enix part and Sony buys the Square part (together with the Manga and Anime stuff, since Sony wants to expand into these industries anyway).

 

[sigmaZ]

There is actually a portion of the Tales fanbase that right now claiming how FF16 is essentially just a bad Tales game.

Which, I dunno, seems to me like they insult not only FF but also themselves. Who knows. "Fans" are weird.

Interesting. I have yet to see that take. But now that I think about it, it does share some things that I dislike about the tales series as a whole.

 

[Strider311]

For some reason I was under the impression that FFXVI was well received critically. Guess I was wrong. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played so far though. *shrug*

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

This would actually be amazing and probably makes the most sense. Square seem to do quite well with their nintendo projects and there's less risk.

I never would’ve thought Nintendo would buy Monolith, but they did and they did a damn good job so far. I think that would be the best possible scenario for S-E, as much as I would miss having their games on PC

 

[cireza]

No wonder they came to Xbox for some money to try and compensate. This company is really predictable.

 

[Hudo]

For some reason I was under the impression that FFXVI was well received critically. Guess I was wrong. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played so far though. *shrug*

I think it was, it's just that Square Enix expected like 10 million sales by now or something.

 

[Unknown?]

No wonder they came to Xbox for some money to try and compensate. This company is really predictable.

They should have focused on better mobile than a than platform in decline its third year. They really need to bolster mobile offerings.

 

[Fabieter]

It's a good move for them. But like I was saying, multiplatform is about long term health and slowly building that audience and market - not immediate payoff. It may not be possible to just flip a switch and make Xbox gamers care instantly after being snubbed on their biggest games. I think expecting any significant immediate payoff for being multiplat is a mistake, especially if the game is coming out years later. They should do this with the expectation of payoff slowly over the next decade on future games.

It adds two more skus which adds more workload I don't think sqaure will be happy with no immediate payoff and rightfully so imo. Square also has alot of data from the 360 which was the very reason they got snubbed in the first place.

It's not squares fault when some platformholder can't cultivate an audience for some games and imo it's not fair to expect sqaure to do Microsofts work.

Let's wait and see how KH4 and DQ12 do. If both of these game tank as well, then I dunno. Then maybe Square really is better off being bought by someone.

Well it won't tank but they need to focus their expectations better. Anyway if they aint happy now I cant imagine this changing midterm which will open a window for a bigger company coming in. And investors will happily cash out if it doesnt get better lets say in the next five years.

 

[Team Andromeda]

why does it matter when xvi isn't a good game those platforms won't but it either. Seemingly there only way of salvation is doing turn based games like they used to 30 years ago.

They need to get more sales. Square messed up with their SONY only trick and it's come back to bite them on their SONY bum

 

[cireza]

They should have focused on better mobile than platform in decline its third year.

I think their reasoning is more like "Who is going to give us cash immediately". Not a single long-term thought.

 

[Fabieter]

They need to get more sales. Square messed up with their SONY only trick and it's come back to bite them on their SONY bum

So many people hating on the game that the reason it failed is because its not ff. Its still not a ff game when it comes out on other platforms.

 

[KungFucius]

Final Flop XVI

That's what you get when you take what used to be a top RPG with exploration items and remove all meaningful exploration. Game was a huge disappointment to me next to Zelda, Starfield and BG3. Maybe it would have looked better last year when everything was delayed.

 

[Team Andromeda]

So many people hating on the game that the reason it failed is because its not ff. Its still not a ff game when it comes out on other platforms.

I don't hate on the game at all. To close your mind to the PC market, which isn't a rival to the console sector in any shape or form was nonsensical and I'm sure if it came to XBox Square would have got 100,000 more sales or at least some money off Uncle Phil.

 

[Punished Miku]

It adds two more skus which adds more workload I don't think sqaure will be happy with no immediate payoff and rightfully so imo. Square also has alot of data from the 360 which was the very reason they got snubbed in the first place.

It's not squares fault when some platformholder can't cultivate an audience for some games and imo it's not fair to expect sqaure to do Microsofts work.

I'm not trying to change your mind, but personally I think you have that backwards. Just look at Sega, and Persona. They're not expecting to sell tons of Xbox copies instantly. They've put multiple games on Gamepass, built a Sega / Xbox relationship dating back to the 1st system, and then will launch their new IP not on Gamepass. I don't know why people expect Microsoft to sell SQEX's games. If they want to build up a larger audience of millions, that's up to them.

In contrast SQEX had Octopath 1 on GP but then skipped part 2 on the system entirely. They had FFXIII trilogy on GP a year ago, but then skipped FFXVI. It's really their call if they think that's a great plan and everyone is going to throw money at them when they flip a switch years late with no predictable or logical plan. I don't really care what they do personally since I have all the systems. I just think they make a lot of moronic decisions as a company.

 

[Fabieter]

I don't hate on the game at all. To close your mind to the PC market, which isn't a rival to the console sector in any shape or form was nonsensical and I'm sure if it came to XBox Square would have got 100,000 more sales or at least some money off Uncle Phil.

I hate to break it to you but 100k is nothing for a game like this. But you don't seem to understand what iam trying to tell you.

 

[FunkMiller]

Probably should have put some Final Fantasy into that Final Fantasy game eh, fuckos?

 

[Hudo]

If they just had called FF16 "Mystic Quest 2", they would've sold 20 million by now.

 

[ulantan]

-22% MMO and -18% mobile revenue is their biggest problem, idk why there is no mention of that in the article.

You know in your heart why.

 

[Team Andromeda]

I hate to break it to you but 100k is nothing for a game like this. But you don't seem to understand what iam trying to tell you.

More sales would have helped. And I can only imagine the outcry if this was an XBox exclusive game, where the 3rd party studio turned their back on the PC and PS5 market and its sales disappointed

 

[//DEVIL//]

When you sell old games for full price on PC, and release games exclusive to one console, then yeah you deserve to get flopped.

Watch them announce in couple of weeks / months then home console is not sustainable business and they release more shitty games on mobile

 

[b0uncyfr0]

Guess 720p doesnt work so well after all

 

[Hudo]

Btw: I feel you, shareholders.

 

[Fabieter]

I'm not trying to change your mind, but personally I think you have that backwards. Just look at Sega, and Persona. They're not expecting to sell tons of Xbox copies instantly. They've put multiple games on Gamepass, built a Sega / Xbox relationship dating back to the 1st system, and then will launch their new IP not on Gamepass. I don't know why people expect Microsoft to sell SQEX's games. If they want to build up a larger audience of millions, that's up to them.

In contrast SQEX had Octopath 1 on GP but then skipped part 2 on the system entirely. They had FFXIII trilogy on GP a year ago, but then skipped FFXVI. It's really their call if they think that's a great plan and everyone is going to throw money at them when they flip a switch years late with no predictable or logical plan. I don't really care what they do personally since I have all the systems. I just think they make a lot of moronic decisions as a company.

Well Sqaure was pretty big on 360. Actually there were several big exclusive games and most/all other games were day one on both consoles. Imo they have more sales data for their games than Sega has for yakuza and persona. They supported Xbox one as well besides some smaller games and ffviir. It's not right to say that sqaure didn't try to grow an audience. I have several friends on xbox who literally hate japanese games.

Can't say the same about pc tho. It was a mistake to skip that for xvi day one, but late ports for xbox isnt a bad business decision especially if you can go for the gamepass bag.

 

[graywolf323]

I wonder if there's anyone more obsessed with Square's financials and FFXVI sales than Takashi Mochizuki

the fact Bloomberg employs a guy that clearly has a massive grudge against Sony (and has published multiple debunked rumors that are negative in some way regarding PlayStation) is a joke

 

[Hudo]

Don't worry guys, I've just received top-secret inside news that in order to turn the ship around, Square Enix have decided to put all their resources into making Infinite Undiscovery 2.

 

[fart town usa]

Hot take: Let Yoko Taro direct a mainline Final Fantasy.

This.

 

[diffusionx]

It's weird to see so many people focusing on the exclusivity when the clear problem is that the game just isn't good enough. It would have picked up some more sales on other platforms but Square would also have expected more sales, and it would have underperformed all the same. The issue is the game itself.

 

[Fabieter]

Hot take: Let Yoko Taro direct a mainline Final Fantasy.

It's really sad but besides automata his other games weren't sales banger either. His track record isn't great saleswise.

 

[Fake]

Maybe Square should do some soul searching an go back to turn-based RPGs. Like the ones that everyone remembers.

Hell even asking the basics from RPG like, IDK, using a fucking water element on fire element foes because rememeber the old times of FF series when elemental advantage was a thing?

They tried to sell a game for 'everyone', but forget what FF is really about.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Nintendo should buy them.

 

[Hudo]

It's really sad but besides automata his other games weren't sales banger either. His track record isn't great saleswise.

Yeah, I mean, he made 3 Drakengard games before and I didn't hear about them until Nier Automata. Not the best sign.

 

[Hudo]

By the way, do we know whether Square are working on the Super Mario RPG remake or not? I couldn't find anything on it.

 

[Fabieter]

Hell even asking the basics from RPG like, IDK, using a fucking water element on fire element foes because rememeber the old times of FF series when elemental advantage was a thing?

They tried to sell a game for 'everyone', but forget what FF is really about.

What is this "what's ff is really about" exactly?

 

[Hudo]

what's ff is really about