So you enjoyed The World Ends With You? Too bad. You won't be seeing anything remotely like it from Square-Enix anytime soon, according to company president Yoichi Wada, who recently issued an ultimatum to his staff: if any games are made that don't fit into the mainstream's circle of interest, job cuts will follow. So long, unique concepts that break the mold!
This was supposedly part of a heated business meeting in which Square discussed the results of their 2007 fiscal year, which were none too sunny, showing general profits down 20 percent and taking the worst of it in overseas sales.
Business is business, but I have to say my heart sank when I read those words. If Square was doing anything I was excited to see, it was things outside the Final Fantasy spectrum, but financial troubles like this certainly excise any hope of experimental titles in the future (at least until the numbers improve). I'm glad to see the giant falter a bit, if only in hopes that the results will push them towards a more focused future.
[Via Develop Mag - Thanks, Justin]
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That's okay. I can think of other developers that want my money way more.
Well, on the bright side, this means more remakes of every Final Fantasy game that's been remade on every system ever made over the last 5 years. YAY!
/sarcasm
How about they stop working on their own game engines and license something that already works instead of limiting what their teams can produce creatively? Ridiculous
How about going multiplat. with their titles to hit wider audience.
Dammit, and here I was thinking/hoping that The World Ends With You was the first sign of a beautiful new direction that Squeenix was taking...
I don't get them. They could slap Final Fantasy on every game they make (like Nintendo does with Mario) and it would sell gazillions!
This really bothers me, as I'm a huge fan of The World End With You and was hoping for much more like it. I don't know, we'll see what they produce in the next few years. My RPG attention has been shifting to companies like Atlus more and more these years.
Not entirely Squeenix's fault. More creative games would be made if more creative games were bought. As it is, people snap up their FF remakes, so that's what we can expect to see.
Seriously?
As me and my friends say . . . net profit loss. Clamping down on game designer creativity will only cause them to want to leave. I'm tired of FF and Dragon Quest remakes; The World Ends With You was an awesome, awesome release. Looks like FFV is next . . .
This is the worst news I've seen today...(granted it's still early, but still).
Just the other day I was in a discussion about how Last Remnant, TWEWY, and Sigma Harmonics were all signs of Square finally being a bit more unique.
Freaking Square...I've always been their bitch, but it's going to be damn hard after this. >_>'
That's kinda funny and kinda sad. Hopefully this is only temporary.
Oh screw you Square-Enix. We want more TWEWY-like original things, not more FF7 expansion junk. Idiots.
@Tuxy Technically Square-Enix is now multiplatform since they support all consoles now.
Creativity is BAD
The funny thing is I haven't bought a Brand new final fantasy game for years but I bought the world ends with you on day one.
In unrelated news thousands of spiky haired youths wearing at least six belts seen knocking at the door to Atlus asking if they are hiring for any positions in an RPG that isn't rehashed garbage.
why sink Colette? it means more final fantasy remakes and chocobo tales. and if anyone is fired from sqaure. im sure they would move on to mistwalker <_<
So only games with FinalFantasy, DragonQuest and KingdomHearts in the title?
This is stupid.
You can try to defend it by chalking it up to some sort of cultural aesthetic or preference, but the fact is that on the whole, Japanese developers have not kept up with the latest graphics technologies and it has hurt them. Regardless of what the fanboys say, the numbers do not lie: the vast majority of consumers that buy the 360 and PS3 like normal mapping, even if they do not know what it is or how it works.
@flamesofchaos
I know, I was thinking along the lines of exclusives like FF13.
at least Kojima Productions will continue to push out quality material. Thats all im worried about.
Plz tell me Kingdom Hearts is considered inside the "Specturum" aviable for develpment.
@Colette
Um I believe you misinterpreted this.
What is really meant that they need to stop making games that only the developers want to make. Those games being old PSX and SNES games: remakes off FF series, Front mission, star ocean, and DQ.
Remember this is from a Japanese perspective, The world Ends with You, is exactly what Wada wants.
Right now in Japan Square is only doing cheaply done remakes and mainstream casual games, like DS Wine and Cookbooks and other slew of casual non-games that have come out on the DS.
So I'm sorry Colette, this is actually good news for us folks who are tired of Square developers wanking themselves with remakes of their favorite old games or those who love making games for their wives,and fellow house-wife friends.
Overall this means no more Crappy Remakes and finally some new games, because the reason for the low sales have to do with the remakes which have unfortunately not sold well.
I hope that doesn't extend to things like MLAAK. Its very different for them, but still within the FF universe. I'm hoping the market decides favorably for it.
Final Fantasy VII: MLAAK would be freaking awesome.
@byrc
Other than the flame-bait, I think you're right on the money.
I think that guy needs to be fired. What is the point of CREATING a game when if you are too creative, you will get fired. Nobody works well when they are threatened with losing their job. Just one more reason to hate Square-Enix. Maybe they can shit out some more FF remakes instead of being an actual development house.
Just call it all Final Fantasy, you will fool enough fanbois to turn a profit every time.
What did i say was flamebait?
I'm just saying Wada is being misinterpreted by the english press.
He says the company is becoming more insular, because developers are focusing on old school remakes, which is really popular among the producers in Square-enix. Wada knows that remakes aren't going to cut it, because honestly the Japanese video game market isn't the same as it was in back in the 90s.
Again he's remarks are being extracted to fit the American conception of Square Enix, and that is incorrect. Wada makes to make new more mainstream games from the Japanese audience, which is means less Old School Remakes.
Sucks for them, sucks for us, but hopefully it means better games for me to poop on.
The funny thing is, if he gave this ultimatum in 2001, Kingdom Hearts, one of Square's biggest sellers, might not of been made. That game was a bit of a gamble, and a dream project for Nomura. They were just banking on the popularity of Disney, really.
@Teta: Are you serious!? Ever hear the term "Final Mix"? They release the same game twice with more content in Japan because they can't get enough of it over there. Kingdom Hearts isn't going anywhere. (And if that was sarcasm, which it probably was, I'll feel really stupid having written that.)
Oh well, it's not as if Square hasn't released much truly exciting in the past five years. More Final Fantasy ports, remakes, and spin-offs, HERE WE COME!!! :D
This is some crappy shit. I wonder if this means no more Final Fantasy, since those games, I'm pretty sure, fall outside the mainstream interest. Many people complain when things like this happen, but, sometimes these people are the reasons stuff like this happens. They buy games from an established franchise, not the good games that deviate from the formula. Prime example #1: Okami. Besides that, the Viewtiful Joe games that didn't sell well etc. If gamers brought more games like this, stuff like this wouldn't happen.
how about they dont charge 10 bucks more than everyone else for ds games... and did anyone ever see any advertisements for the world ends with you? i dont get how companies expect their games to reach beyond the scope of nerds like us without an ounce of press, unless theyre proven franchises. ive heard so much good about the world ends.. but im not spending 40 bucks on a ds game.
Wanna know something funny?
I counted every SquareEnix game in America since the merger. Of those, only five of the games have not been sequels to preexisting franchises (FF, DQ, KH, Mana, Front Mission, etc.)
Five whole games.
You need to understand there was no large clamoring for the Star Ocean remake or even Final Fantasy iv or DQiv remake.
These remakes were pet projects within the Square-enix company.
Wada wants to stop these pet projects.
I don't see anything wrong with what he said.
I want more new games.
Hence the reason why Infinite Undiscovery is being pushed for the end of this year.
Wada also wants to stop Mobile phone games too, hence the reason for the cancellation of a major mobile phone game release.
The English blogosphere is completely misinterpreting Wada.
Right now Square is known for cruddy remakes, mobile phone games, and casual non-games on the DS.
That's horrible and I'm happy Square profits are shrinking because of it.
Wada wants to chang this.
Please stop spreading the misinterpretation.
This looks exactly, scarily enough, like EA.
I'm not disparaging either company necessarily, as was said, business is business. However, what this will do to Square is exactly what's happening to EA. Instead of one year of bad sales, each year sales will slip.
This is.. scary, to say the least.
I too think byrc really understood what they meant. I think their DS cash-ins like the cooking/movie-making games are what will be cut, and that's a good thing.
I hope the remakes aren't affected, however--note I said "remakes" and not "ports." Apart from Dragon Quest VIII (which wasn't even made by Squeenix), the only reasons I even look at SE anymore is for things like DQ IV DS, FF IV DS, and that stuff. I haven't liked an "original" Squeenix game since, oh... Chrono Trigger. And I haven't liked a marquee Final Fantasy game since X.
@novakaine
too bad, because The world Ends with You is the best game Square has made since dq8, and yes I count dq8 as square since it was published by squareenix, its very common among big developers to have a smaller developing group within the company to develop certain games, jsut like in the case of The world ends with you (which was developed by Jupiter) and we all agree The world ends with you is a Square game.
@ byrc: I don't know if I could play TWEWY. The dual-screen combat looks like it would give me an aneurysm.
I find it hilarious when Colette makes it seem wada doesn't want creative games, seeing that only one new creative game has been released by square over the last 2 years, which is The World Ends with You, while majority of Square Enix games for the last 2 years have been remakes, cellphone games and casual non-games (i'm talking about in Japan). I don't believe Wada blames The World Ends with You for horrible profits. The reason for low 2007 sales have to do with the lackluster sales of Star Ocean 1, DQIV, and FFIV and fucking Wine selection non-game on the Ds.
Oh, you just brought the mobile games to mind. Maybe this'll teach the fuckers to stop wasting time and resources on making things like Parasite Eve and FF IV-2 for cell phones and put them on a real handheld....
Nothing instills faith in a developer like them announcing the death of their own creativity.
Oh well, at least we still have atlus.
well how about making your BIG tittles multiplatform....CEO'S can be such dumb asses.
Bryc is spot on, listen to the man. Seriously, scroll back to his first post. You guys need to think a little harder about what you're reporting here. People on the 'net are so fast to come to conclusions and then blog them all over the place.
And yeah, still a little miffed at your 'review' of Baroque. :)
It warms my black, black heart that most Dtoiders are distraught by this news.
Over at the Hair Palace, the comments are full of "FF7 remake plz" and fail.
That's really, really sad.
what about remebering the other part of their name. square-ENIX. and release, or remake some awesome games from enix like robotrek, or terranigma or E.v.o. even Bust a groove will be awesome...
what about somo other genres, what about something like Einhander. i bet most of the Shmups fans will pick a game like that for the Ds or PSP, i dare to say even on wiiware, Psn or XBLA.
The World Ends With You - This decade's Earthbound?
Unless you've had a personal conversation with Wada about the topic (and I'll wager most of haven't), what this means for Square is all a matter of opinion. My reaction is sadness when I hear creativity should be reduced in any situation. If you disagree with me, that's fine ... everyone is going to have different takes on the meaning of this.
Yes the world ends with you is good. Can you give it more than a freaking MONTH before you pull it? Seriously its been out localized for that long, and in the case you don't happen to live in the US chances are IS NOT EVEN AVAIABLE FOR SALE on most places, ive been literally hanging around all game stores in my cities and they won't even stock it yet.
*sigh*
I do hope byrc is right and that TWEWY its this kinds of games he wants to make as opposed to remakes but then again you look at all the raving FF7 fans demanding hd FF7 and how FFIV DS will probably crush The world ends with you on sales.
This is sad news, for RPG fans is not as easy as saying "ill just take my business elsewhere" unless you know fluent japanese, other companies SUCK at localizing, I mean how long do we have to wait for Tales of Innocence on DS!
Why don't you listen to byrc??!!! And read this copy pasta, the last paragraph of the article in Develop Mag:
Following the financial year results, Wada said that the company "needed to go beyond traditional Square Enix", hinting at a wider portfolio of titles to come in the future. The company already publishes several casual games in Japan developed by external parties, but so far none have been published in the West.
Soooooo, like byrc said, one would assume from this that they will be making more games, and more different games. In Japan, "mainstream" isn't the same as it is in the west, it's not bad pop shit, it's more like everything that's thought to be good, annnnddd, that's not a bad thing.
Meh, still waiting for the darker Square-Enix games like Vagrant Story to get some loving. Why can't a full blown jRPG be made with that kind of gritty feel?
Instead we'll probably see more emo spikey haired anime characters crying over their lack of enough earrings and knecklaces for their fruity colored clothing.
Rock on, Colette. I agree with you, and here's why some of the best games ever made started with a developer wanting to make something different, something he wanted to do. Shadow of the Colossus, the Mother games, and most of Miyamoto's works, to name a few.
Just figured I'd share that so you don't think everyone's against you :]
"better games for me to poop on." Classic Triumph the Comic Dog reference.. Hilarious. As long as they continue to develop new games (like that Infinite Undiscovery) for multiplatform, incl. 360, I'm happy.
Wow, how lame is this? Guess it's back to creating crappy non-numbered Final Fantasy games for them.
I loved TWEWY. The fact that Squeenix is curring any future games like it out is a load of cockadookie.
YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!! I want a return to the late 90's when a major Final Fantasy came out ever year or two (instead of every 4-6 years).
And now that profits are down, they'll be ever more desperate to do the FF7 remake. And to all you who don't want it: Great, don't play it. Many of us do want it.
um...I believe many of you like always didn't read the actual article, instead just Colette's misinformed copy-pasta, that bloggers usually do.
If you read the actual article this cutting out of games have more to do with the pet projects of many square employees,which are mostly remakes and cellphone games.
I didn't just guess this Colette. Please read the article and maybe do some research. If you actually pay attention to what Wada said you won't assume they mean original games, because in all honesty square hasn't made any original games aside from TWEWY.
Also, don't assume everyone that posts here isn't involved in the video game industry. You'd be suprise how many industry folks read this blog and many others *cough*Kotaku*cough*
Awesome, I hope Square teams up with EA on the Madden games. I could actually see myself playing them if they had a story mode with an in-depth battle system and good character development.
in other news Sqaure enix has changed it's name to final fantasy remakes and spin offs INC.
Oh ya i don't care about sqaure anymore. They are boring the hell out of me.
Oh my god look another final fantasy!!! Who would have guessed!!
well i can skip that game and not miss anything important.
byrc; making things personal since 2008.
Jim said it. Don't put the full blame on Square.
Square didn't lose money because of creativity, it lost money because Persona 3 was better than its games.
I can think of at least five franchises that they've killed off that I would get a second job in order to procure a special edition if they brought them back.
-Bushido Blade
-Einhander
-Tobal
-Vagrant Story
-Mischief Makers
-7th Saga
Hey look at that six.
I know this'll never happen... but a guy can wish, can't he?