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[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I really don't see any need for Sony to pay them even for timed deals now with Xbox likely exiting. That means, even less need to acquire them. Sony milked them dry and played it perfectly. Maximized any potential system seller element until there's really no other rivals left, but isn't stuck paying their salaries by acquiring them. SQEX games aren't breaking records currently and are slowly trending downward. We're down to about 3 million potential Playstations sold because of these deals.

Milked who dry? Microsoft or Square-Enix ?

Overall though, yeah to a large extent I don't necessarily know what timed exclusivity for FF games going forward would do for either party anymore. The only potential reasons would be in seeing PC and Nintendo as competing platforms. Which IMO, they are, but not in the direct way Xbox consoles have been the past two decades. But, I wouldn't see those two being good reasons to make timed exclusivity work.

With PC, a lot in that audience are very patient and are spoiled for games to play in the meantime while waiting for a port, so it's possible that timed exclusivity of just a year or whatever is nothing for them. With Nintendo, the timed exclusivity strat would have less effect because it would mainly be stacking onto the exclusivity strat with 1P games which, so far this gen for Sony, has been timed at best even for those 1P games before eventual PC ports (unless internally they've reverted on this policy, hopefully).

So timed exclusivity of 3P games has less of an overall pull on PlayStation than it would for a Nintendo platform, where 1P games are long-term/permanent genuine exclusives.

As far as I remember nobody at Square mentioned to be working on FF9. Just one or two annonymous random internet users.

FFVIII sold considerably more than FFIX (12M vs 8.9M units), so I don't see why they'd jump from VII to IX skipping VIII.

Mainly because a IX Remake would be much cheaper and simpler to make than an VIII Remake. Remember, VIII has the somewhat-controversial Junction System, and you know SE would redesign that for a Remake. Much more challenging an undertaking than IX, whose systems are more universally well-received.

A remake of VIII would likely involve a budget at least equal to Rebirth's, even if they weren't breaking it up into multiple parts.

How to save Square Enix:

Step 1: Keep pumping content into FF Online.

Step 2: Start developing gameplay oriented Final Fantasy for release 5 - 7 years from now. Take inspiration from Nintendos recent Zelda titles

Step 3: Figure out what new Live Service game you can succeed at and go all in.

Step 4: Cancel everything else. Devote everything to the above 3 pillars.

Step 5: Profit.

Wait, haven't you been worried about SIE going all-in on GAAS titles in other threads? Why would it benefit SE to cancel everything outside of GAAS and mainline FF games?

Is it because they'd still have the mainline FF games there?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Wait, haven't you been worried about SIE going all-in on GAAS titles in other threads? Why would it benefit SE to cancel everything outside of GAAS and mainline FF games?

Is it because they'd still have the mainline FF games there?

Worried? No. Aroused is a better descriptor.

I just don't think AA or indie size games can compete anymore. They're a waste of time for someone like SE. We're in the "go big or go home" era.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Worried? No. Aroused is a better descriptor.

I just don't think AA or indie size games can compete anymore. They're a waste of time for someone like SE. We're in the "go big or go home" era.

Any dev who wants to go under should follow your advice.

You really know nothing about profit or what makes a game good.

 

[yurinka]

Mainly because a IX Remake would be much cheaper and simpler to make than an VIII Remake. Remember, VIII has the somewhat-controversial Junction System, and you know SE would redesign that for a Remake. Much more challenging an undertaking than IX, whose systems are more universally well-received.

A remake of VIII would likely involve a budget at least equal to Rebirth's, even if they weren't breaking it up into multiple parts.

Well, I think in both cases they could choose any range: from a low budget barely tweaked port/remaster with exactly the same controls to a FFVIIR scale big ass remake that even overhaul the battle system.

It's up to them. If I was them, I'd take time to make FFVIIR level remakes, aiming for the top tier quality.

 

[OuterLimits]

This sucks. I have enjoyed the AA games like Triangle Strategy, Octopath, Tactics Ogre, and Paranormasight far more than their AAA games recently.

Part of the problem is they released many of their AA games within a several month period in late 2022. Some of them needed more time in the oven.(Diofield especially which received a massive update several months after launch).

 

[FoxMcChief]

I bought two games in the graphic in the OP.

Power Wash Simulator for Quest 3 and Chrono Cross on Xbox.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Any hint on what those cancelled titles might be? I'm a bit worried about Dragon Quest XII and specially the remake of III, which we haven't heard about in ages.

Don't be silly. They're not going to cancel DQ games.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Don't be silly. They're not going to cancel DQ games.

Yeah I think I worried too much lol.

I guess I really don't want to lose Dragon Quest, since they are one of the few franchises that still play like they always have been. Really hope those rumors about it being more action oriented are nothing and we get another cool DQ game like XI was.

 

[Woopah]

When game publishers or gamedev studios cancel some of their games under development they axe the games that they estimate will be less successful. Normally smaller titles, new IPs that aren't promising enough. Typically are also projects in relatively early stages of development.

Very likely none of the cancelled projects are main titles of their main IPs, as would be Dragon Quest XII or the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake, which also have been under development for a while.


As far as I remember nobody at Square mentioned to be working on FF9. Just one or two annonymous random internet users.

FFVIII sold considerably more than FFIX (12M vs 8.9M units), so I don't see why they'd jump from VII to IX skipping VIII.

FF9 remake was first mentioned in the Nvidia GeForce Now leak in 2021, so it was in development at some point.

How to save Square Enix:

Step 1: Keep pumping content into FF Online.

Step 2: Start developing gameplay oriented Final Fantasy for release 5 - 7 years from now. Take inspiration from Nintendos recent Zelda titles

Step 3: Figure out what new Live Service game you can succeed at and go all in.

Step 4: Cancel everything else. Devote everything to the above 3 pillars.

Step 5: Profit.

So completely kill Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts?

 

[Little Chicken]

I really don't see any need for Sony to pay them even for timed deals now with Xbox likely exiting.

The same Microsoft that announced a next-gen console just two months ago?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

FF9 remake was first mentioned in the Nvidia GeForce Now leak in 2021, so it was in development at some point.

So completely kill Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts?

I forgot those existed. 3 pillars turns into 5 pillars.

 

[Goalus]

Not surprising given that their recent FF games are Sony-exclusive and consequently underperformed.

 

[EwwLink]

Please be safe Final Fantasy IX remake project thing..

Please..

 

[dispensergoinup]

1. Stop Using Wacky Game Titles
2. Make the game.
3. ????
4. Profit!

 

[Hudo]

How to save Square Enix from themselves:

- Demote Nomura to artist again after he's done with FF7 (I mean, it's already 2/3 completed. So might as well do it all...)
- Sorry for all the Kingdom Hearts fans but I feel that dealing with current Disney is a massive waste of time. So let KH rest.
- Fucking offer Yasumi Matsuno a lot of money to come work for Square again
- Final Fantasy Tactics 2 (Directed and written by Matsuno, battle systems designer: Hiroyuki Ito, Composer: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Art Director: Akihiko Yoshida)
- Final Fantasy XVII set in Ivalice (Directed and written by Matsuno, battle systems designer: Hiroyuki Ito, Composer: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Art Director: Akihiko Yoshida)
- Focus on finishing Dragon Quest XII
- Let team Asano make an HD-2D version of Valkyrie Profile
- Let Yoshi-P and the FF14 team come up with concepts for a potential successor MMO to FF14
- Give Yoko Taro a bunch of money and tell him that he can make whatever the fuck he wants with it.
- Get Takahisa Taura from Platinum Games as a director for a Stranger of Paradise 2.
- Let the Mana team do whatever it is doing. Same thing with Akitoshi Kawazu.
- Hire Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya and give them a bunch of money.
- Place a calll for pitches for a Parasite Eve game in the industry.
- Also make a Chinese-exclusive Dragon Quest Monsters Gacha game for mobile phones. Just so we get some free money.

 

[ArtHands]

How come FF7 Rebirth didnt save these games

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Worried? No. Aroused is a better descriptor.

I just don't think AA or indie size games can compete anymore. They're a waste of time for someone like SE. We're in the "go big or go home" era.

Well that's just fcking sad for the industry, then.

Well, I think in both cases they could choose any range: from a low budget barely tweaked port/remaster with exactly the same controls to a FFVIIR scale big ass remake that even overhaul the battle system.

It's up to them. If I was them, I'd take time to make FFVIIR level remakes, aiming for the top tier quality.

Ideally a FF VII Remake-tier budget and production would be nice for something like VIII. But it's also worth asking if VIII has the built-in popularity/nostalgia to warrant it. I don't think it does, personally.

I think people stating FF as a "brand" encompassing different IP of varying levels of popularity is accurate; everyone may know of the FF "brand" but VII has a lot more fandom than, say, VIII or IX. VI is probably the one other FF old school-wise with somewhat comparable fandom to VII. But the gulf between them is still large.

Yeah I think I worried too much lol.

I guess I really don't want to lose Dragon Quest, since they are one of the few franchises that still play like they always have been. Really hope those rumors about it being more action oriented are nothing and we get another cool DQ game like XI was.

DQ is like a national holiday in Japan, they're never cancelling one of those games (especially a mainline one).

The same Microsoft that announced a next-gen console just two months ago?

Hardware != console

Not surprising given that their recent FF games are Sony-exclusive and consequently underperformed.

Yeah I guess GOW Ragnarok really bombed being PlayStation-exclusi--

Oh, wait...it's already sold 15 million and counting? Oh, I guess PlayStation exclusivity isn't the culprit after all!

 

[Dr. Claus]

Well that's just fcking sad for the industry, then.



Ideally a FF VII Remake-tier budget and production would be nice for something like VIII. But it's also worth asking if VIII has the built-in popularity/nostalgia to warrant it. I don't think it does, personally.

I think people stating FF as a "brand" encompassing different IP of varying levels of popularity is accurate; everyone may know of the FF "brand" but VII has a lot more fandom than, say, VIII or IX. VI is probably the one other FF old school-wise with somewhat comparable fandom to VII. But the gulf between them is still large.



DQ is like a national holiday in Japan, they're never cancelling one of those games (especially a mainline one).



Hardware != console



Yeah I guess GOW Ragnarok really bombed being PlayStation-exclusi--

Oh, wait...it's already sold 15 million and counting? Oh, I guess PlayStation exclusivity isn't the culprit after all!

It is almost as if a niche genre remains niche.

I don’t understand the folks who seem to be unable to comprehend this. Final Fantasy games sell very well, but they will never sell the same level as God of Bore.

 

[Punished Miku]

It is almost as if a niche genre remains niche.

I don’t understand the folks who seem to be unable to comprehend this. Final Fantasy games sell very well, but they will never sell the same level as God of Bore.

That used to be the case with God of War, Zelda, Monster Hunter, Dark Souls. A lot of series hovering around the 5-7 million mark doubled in sales this gen.

 

[BloodborneHat3r]

This is not the reason (at least, not a main reason) and very stupid to cling to considering all the exclusives that actually sell better than most multiplats in the market. Also for going Day 1 on multiple platforms IP like Yakuza aren't doing magnitudes better in sales than if they were just PlayStation exclusives. So likely a lot of sales on platforms like PC are lateral sales of dual-platform owners opting for one platform over the other to buy the game on, and we already know Xbox is contributing very little to sales of new Yakuza games.

Irrelevant as in, Yakuza is not as powerful IP as FF and Yakuza locked in to a platform for many years too. All PC gamers I knew over the years have either Switch/3DS/Wii/WiiU as secondary platform or had no secondary platforms. PC gamers beat PlayStation gamers by more than %20 percent on Helldivers 2. Anyways, SE keep taking Ls as usual.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It is almost as if a niche genre remains niche.

I don’t understand the folks who seem to be unable to comprehend this. Final Fantasy games sell very well, but they will never sell the same level as God of Bore.

True (well, aside the slick backhand to God of War there), but I think sales for FF games could be better.

My thing is, exclusivity isn't the culprit, or at least the main culprit. Maybe for specific markets like Japan where PS5 seems to be declining in sales, but globally I don't think that's the case. Square-Enix could do several things to get a dramatic boost in FF sales before ever even making a port of the game, but too many people are quick to always try blaming the console for a game's sales when exclusivity is involved, because that's the easiest thing to go to.

Even if it's not the actual reason.

That used to be the case with God of War, Zelda, Monster Hunter, Dark Souls. A lot of series hovering around the 5-7 million mark doubled in sales this gen.

You'll also notice that with all of those IP, they both drastically shifted a lot of things about their game design but also more or less stayed very true to the spirit of previous entries, adapting design choices successfully to the new entries.

FF VII Rebirth sounds like it's the first modern FF to legitimately accomplish both things in a more-or-less universally accepted way, but it might've came a bit too late after divisive choices with XVI, XV, and even Remake.

Maybe in due time, people who perhaps aren't paying attention to Rebirth due to choices in those other games, will do so, and appreciate the game on its own merits as a result.

Irrelevant as in, Yakuza is not as powerful IP as FF and Yakuza locked in to a platform for many years too. All PC gamers I knew over the years have either Switch/3DS/Wii/WiiU as secondary platform or had no secondary platforms. PC gamers beat PlayStation gamers by more than %20 percent on Helldivers 2. Anyways, SE keep taking Ls as usual.

You're overestimating FF's sales as only a few entries have done over 10 million and almost all entries got multiple re-releases over a period of years. VIII, IX, and XII might be the only exceptions to that rule.

Just because PC gamers you know didn't have a PS or Xbox as a second console doesn't mean there aren't many who did/do. As for the Helldivers 2 stuff, well I do think it's a bit alarming if without PC, HD2 wouldn't be in the Top 20 for NA sales but otherwise it's 7th. That does suggest PC is doing the heavy lifting for sales in the American market. But at the same time, Sony have done fuc-all marketing for Helldivers 2 in traditional means, and the vast majority of its promotion's been WOM driven by online trends and streamers who predominantly play on PC.

And also, Steam as a platform is a LOT more transparent on average with player data, play/MAU metrics, CCUs etc. than any of the consoles, even PlayStation, so both players and the media have more to work with when using Steam to drive engagement for these games than the console platforms. It's something I've been stressing SIE should really look into fixing for PlayStation; making that type of data more transparent and upfront with players in the community, offer community forums, etc.

They want to open up to PC so much, how about taking some of the better features of PC platforms like Steam and bringing them to your console audience, SIE?

 

[Punished Miku]

You'll also notice that with all of those IP, they both drastically shifted a lot of things about their game design but also more or less stayed very true to the spirit of previous entries, adapting design choices successfully to the new entries.

FF VII Rebirth sounds like it's the first modern FF to legitimately accomplish both things in a more-or-less universally accepted way, but it might've came a bit too late after divisive choices with XVI, XV, and even Remake.

Maybe in due time, people who perhaps aren't paying attention to Rebirth due to choices in those other games, will do so, and appreciate the game on its own merits as a result.

For sure. I think the biggest mistake was just devoting all those resources from their premier dev team to a remake. Remakes are just not going to be as exciting as something new.

 

[RoboFu]

They should make a new top down mainline FF game similar to the snes games but 2.5 d .. make it switch 2 exclusive.

 

[ArtHands]

Maybe they should demand more money from Sony for their next PS exclusive