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Square Enix - Financial Results FY2019/3; SotTR Shipped 4.12 Million, JC4 Below Expectation; Existing 11 Business Divisions To Be Consolidated Into 4
- Thread starter Koozek
- Start date
Ah, I guess they've moved to internal development with DQX & XI. Prior to that I don't think any internal development studios had much to do with DQ. It was always Horii's own production company collaborating with some companies like Artepiazza, Level 5 and Tose.
BD6 and BD7 were always former Enix leads and operated like Enix used to with producers working with external studios. DQIX was the first DQ to have significant internal development (it's actually co-developed with Level 5), then so did DQX and DQXI (both with Orca and Toylogic).
Despite the first game being a pretty good success for a mid-budget new IP, it was clear that Bravely team was given an even smaller budget to make a sequel leading to heavy asset reuse, and then the Bravely IP was relegated to mobile.
I'm just worried that SE might send Octopath team down the same path.
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Why would anyone think so? Even during the reveal it just said "play it first on PlayStation", not "only on". But I also wouldn't be shocked if the timed-exclusivity deal with Sony has been altered and it releases on Xbox day-one too. PC version a year later or so, I guess. Incidentally, last year's Walmart pre-E3 leak that got many things right also listed FFVIIR on both PS4 and X1.
The reshuffle of the 11 business divisions into just four units seems an astute move. Rather than having a fragmented system where production has slowed in the past (FFXIV, XIII and Versus XIII all stepped on each others toes), more unified units may allow resources to be shifted more easily between projects, so the correct members are on each team (according to expertise, size of project etc.) Interesting that they also take on board that their products essentially didn't provide a novel enough experience over competitors launching in a similar period; Shadow of the Tomb Raider especially suffered because of the apathy the audience had to it in light of Spiderman, for example. It will be interesting to see where Tomb Raider in particular goes from here, and whether it ends up on the back burner while SE have their western studios work on Marvel related properties. I do fully expect that FFVII:Remake is aiming for release by March 2020, and I actually think, as with Kingdom Hearts III, a January release may be optimal. On a side note, is FFVII:Remake still expected to be PS4 first and a staggered release on other platforms thereafter?
This awfully sounds like prioritizing AAA games and letting mid sized games left to dry
Yup. My friends and I felt the same way.
They lost sales because they couldn't bother to put co-op in JC4.
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Nothing new about that yet. Wouldn't be shocked if they dropped the timed-exclusivity deal with Sony at this point though.
This. This is my big concern. SE output for Nintendo platforms is low in general and what "big" games we do get are largely because Nintendo is footing the bill in some cases with publishing duties. I fear even that could take a hit here. Cause left on their own, putting out even less titles, Square Enix very likely, most likely wouldn't release a damn thing.
Business Division 11 was spun off from BD6(Nier, Dragon Quest) and was the team who was responsible for FF: 4 Heroes of Light, Bravely and Octopath. Their remit was to make mid sized games, with a focus on Switch games.
BD11 is Asano's team who made Octopath Traveler. They spun out of BD6 (Dragon Quest, Nier) where they made Bravely Default , Bravely Second, FF Gaiden and the FF3-4 remakes.
I mean I honestly doubt it. OT was on their few bright spots regarding recent console releases. It's not like SE churns out AAA games. It's low risk and nice reward deal. Tokyo RPG's Factories continued existence is a question mark though.
This is definitely a risk, but that is making the assumption these four units will necessarily be working on the same project. While I suspect it is mostly to improve the efficiency of AAA style projects with big budgets that need significant production resources, I don't think it means their mid-sized projects will completely die out. Part of having four units with specialised staff would surely be to ensure both mid-sized and large scale products can co-exist but at the same time expediting the process of sharing knowledge between teams, moving resources etc. The hope would be that each 'unit' will have a 'head' with various game directors below them leading individual projects and reporting to them. Essentially, I am reading this as streamlining the process where there are multiple decentralised (11) divisions who report to their own departments, and instead making fewer, but more efficient centralised business units (4). The hope would also be that operating costs can be more clearly monitored under the four unit system under fewer disparate financial situations unique to the previous 11 divisions. But this is just me having a bunch of guesswork, time will tell how this takes shape, I just hope the restructuring truly does allow them to get the cogs turning a bit faster on their projects than they have been over the last decade or so at Square Enix.
Koozek Yeah, I suspect at most PlayStation will get some exclusive content or a demo first or something but the game I'd expect to have moved to a multiplatform day one release.
Thinking about it more I think we'll more likely see a structure like this:
Business Unit 1: Team Nomura (BD1, BD3, BD4, what's left of BD2) AAA internal production, outsourced remasters/spinoffs, FF/KH/SaGa
Business Unit 2: Team MMO (BD5, taking over DQX from BD6) continued MMO focus, occasional side projects
Business Unit 3: Team Enix (BD6, BD7, BD11) Mostly outsourced production, DQ/Nier/Asano
Business Unit 4: Team Mobile (BD8, BD9, BD10) continued mobile & browser focus
Business Unit 1: Team Nomura (BD1, BD3, BD4, what's left of BD2) AAA internal production, outsourced remasters/spinoffs, FF/KH/SaGa
Business Unit 2: Team MMO (BD5, taking over DQX from BD6) continued MMO focus, occasional side projects
Business Unit 3: Team Enix (BD6, BD7, BD11) Mostly outsourced production, DQ/Nier/Asano
Business Unit 4: Team Mobile (BD8, BD9, BD10) continued mobile & browser focus
I understand consolidation, but 4 seems too few isn't?
I don't get why people are worried about Asano's team. Their games sold well.
I don't get why people are worried about Asano's team. Their games sold well.
That's exactly what the CEO said. He said SoTR and JC4 fail to provide fresh experience.
This is good news because they rely entirely on their back catalag of ancient games and keep porting them over and over again. They can't seem to make anything truly outstanding anymore and just live in their past achievements from over 10 years ago. Even FFXV and KH3 are highly flawed. DQXI is good but that's the DQ team, and NieR is good but that's Platinum. Their main FF\KH isn't what they used to be. As for upcoming games, Left Alive doesn't look good at all and it's supposed to be a "big" game. Maybe let the DQ team do whatever they want because they seem to be the only ones at that company who currently know what they're doing.
Terms of all the big Japanese companies, Konami doesn't matter, Sega isn't doing any better, Namco is alright but still better than Sega and Square. Capcom is the best out of these big Japanese companies right now. They have a good handle of what they're doing and they have AAA games with the best quality coming out. It's clear they have a clear idea of how to do their management correctly, something Square could desperately learn. I couldn't care less if it means less mid-budget or smaller games because most if not almost all of them haven't been worth it, except maybe Octopath. Less filler from Tokyo RPG Factory and games like the Secret of Mana remake the better. More AAA games with bigger budgets and quality over everything else sounds like the best foot forward for me, especially with PS5 and X2 as early as next year.
Terms of all the big Japanese companies, Konami doesn't matter, Sega isn't doing any better, Namco is alright but still better than Sega and Square. Capcom is the best out of these big Japanese companies right now. They have a good handle of what they're doing and they have AAA games with the best quality coming out. It's clear they have a clear idea of how to do their management correctly, something Square could desperately learn. I couldn't care less if it means less mid-budget or smaller games because most if not almost all of them haven't been worth it, except maybe Octopath. Less filler from Tokyo RPG Factory and games like the Secret of Mana remake the better. More AAA games with bigger budgets and quality over everything else sounds like the best foot forward for me, especially with PS5 and X2 as early as next year.
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Does anyone have that video of the guy denying that Kingdom Hearts III will ever come out while he's opening the game and playing it?
Have to search for the previous games: in november 2017, 11 million TR, 7 million RotTR, and just look now at the 4.12 million on all plattforms from the beginning, higher userbase.
I did not have any interest, but playing it thanks to gamepass. It is an enjoyable game, but with a budget of 100 million. That will not fly.
How? Studios can make more than one games a time, and they can be of different sizes. Having a studio dedicated to small games is stupid anyway. What if they come up with an idea for a big game? Consolidating them can let people move around efficiently. Any team can make big or small game.
Companies that focus on AAA over everything go bankrupt after a bomb or two, short of being footed by a first party. What you're suggesting is a recipe for that.
I mean, Nintendo has less Square Enix titles than past Nintendo hardware/handhelds because Nintendo Switch isn't exactly DS anymore. It's much more powerful and whatever games are made for it wouldn't be THAT much smaller than a mid budget title for PS4. And a big budget Switch game would probably be even bigger than a mid budget PS4 title, if they took full advantage of the Switch hardware.
Time will tell if this improves output since they've actually been slower than last gen. Although if this just turns them into a KH/FF factory then that's going to be disappointing...
Clearly isn't because it's working for Capcom and MHW is now one of the best selling games ever made and the best selling game Capcom has ever made. Almost 15 million. That's more than any FF or KH this gen and last gen combined. RE7, RE2,DMCV, etc. It works if you do it right. Terms of the big Japanese companies only Capcom so far has done it right, excluding Sony and Nintendo since I'm not talking about 1st Party. Capcom has figured out the balance between quality and creating bigger games with the right mindset. MHW is proof of that.
Square, Namco, Sega can all learn from Capcom and it looks like Square might be the first one paying attention to them because what they're saying here sounds similar to what Capcom did after the mess they were a few years ago. More budget like FF or KH but consistent quality like DQ and NieR is the balance they need to strike and they need to combine those two. Only then will they have critically and commercially successful games. While their games are successful this gen it's not even a fraction of what they've achieved in the past and quality control is just a mess with Square. True, their games have done good critically, but not good enough. Capcom is releasing GOTY level games per year since RE7. Square can't say the same. This to me sounds like the step in the right direction.
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Well, Kitase. After all, Nomura is not a Producer while Hashimoto and Kitase are + being Directors on management.
https://gematsu.com/2018/03/square-enix-announces-change-directors-executive-officers
"The first game was a big success! Let's give the sequel half the budget!"
4.12 million isn't bad for SOTR considering the lukewarm reception and just general fatigue with the current design. That's over 22 million over the three games.
Edit: Christ I forgot that it cost over 100 million. So not so good.
Edit: Christ I forgot that it cost over 100 million. So not so good.
KH delivered just fine though, I can't see this post as anything but asinine. From a business perspective, FFXV did perfectly fine. From an accolades and business perspective (and mine) KH has delivered on all fronts. They also have some top quality mid tier IP's that they're likely to continue.
With a budget of $75-100m just for production (with another $35m for promotion), I don't think 4.12m sold (and a lot of these were probably on sale) is very good for Square
Especially when they were already disappointed with previous titles which reached great milestones
There's nothing asinine about what I said and what I think. You're free to have your own thoughts too and not be a pest about others thinking differently than you. If anything, your post sounds presumptuous for getting bothered by what I said.
KH3 is a good game but it's highly flawed. That 84 MC is proof of that. Maybe you really loved it but the fanbase is mixed on it and most of them don't really like it. FFXV is mixed as well. Both of them being commercially successful doesn't change anything about what I said. But of course, all that is subjective. But they are not performing the best they have and they've achieved much better in the past. From the Japanese side, only DQ and NieR Automata have truly been the only outstanding games from them this gen and those two aren't even directly from main Square. It's the DQ team and Platinum. If they can get that quality and combine it with their FF or KH level budgets, they can get something truly great like Capcom, both critically and commercially.
This structuring might lead to that so it's only good news to me.
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Eh, Kingdom Hearts III is probably the best vanilla release of a KH game. You've got to remember that KH1 only got some of its extra content because it took forever to be released outside Japan. It got secret bosses added for the western release and then Final Mix added even more stuff. And KHII was far more barebones than KHIII is before the Japan only (at the time) Final Mix release. Not only are KHIII's worlds vastly bigger than KHII's, they contain all kinds of extra content that was completely missing in KHII (mini-games, Flans, battle gates, lucky emblems and such). There's literally nothing else to the worlds except running through corridors/linear rooms in KHII. KHIII just needs the Critical Mode to offer challenge to those that want it. Extra content will come in time, much like it did for every other (mostly mainline) KH.
And Left Alive is clearly a mid-budget game, not a "big game". It depicts a big war & has big mechs, but from a budget & marketing POV, it's obviously not getting the same attention an actually big game like Kingdom Hearts III gets.
Hopefully that means they will give Kawazu a budget to work with
oh right I remember now yeah I remember being disappointed that the bravely sequel was asset reused.
Capcom also still brings in less money then square, konami, etc. Because they don't have anything else to fall back on, as soon as we get a game from them that is reported to "sell below expectations" then they are gonna end up in big trouble once again and then we'll get the beginning of this gen again.
Think it's some impossible thing? Devil may cry 4 was the best selling DMC game by far and capcom still considered it a failure.
No way will we see FFVII Remake this year. We might get a release date, but it won't be until late 2020 - 2021. This is Square Enix we are talking about. How long did it take for them to finally release KH3.
I am dealing with it which is why I consider it asinine and yes I know I'm free to which is why I stated mine, as well don't get so defensive over one word. That's not why it's asinine though, you're mixing said opinion with objective milestones for certain games, regardless of Metacritic- in what world is 80+ highly flawed? I don't like FFXV much, but I'm not going to go about speaking on for the fanbase when it was such a success and I've seen countless people here and outside sing praises about it and I'm not sure what you're going on about the fanbase stuff regarding KH to be honest. Also, do you know how past games in KH performed? Both of them being critically successful is indeed the point.
The rest I don't really agree with, but you do you.
I don't think FFVII is this year. Might be next year. I think Avengers is their big game for this year.
They could also be pairing weaker performing divisions with better performing ones, to make finance reporting internally more positive looking. It's not unheard of.
Also like OP, I'm worried about Nirolak
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Ok that's good to hear.
You think they developed a big AAA Avengers game Destiny like in less than 3 years?
it had the biggest hub world in the series and the most content of the series so far. that aint cheap