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Square Enix says the Japanese market is no longer sufficient enough to recoup development investment and generate a profit; Global market the priority
- Thread starter DriftingSpirit
- Start date
Kinda feel like this is the kind of thing folks have poorly argued in online debates about the importance of "x console does/doesn't sell well in Japan" sentiments.
I honestly have zero guesses as to what the game industry will look like in 10 years, 20, etc. but I hope that games coming out of Japan don't pander or water down for international tastes. I'm sure there's plenty of ways to navigate these waters but I'm not qualified to make any suggestions.
I honestly have zero guesses as to what the game industry will look like in 10 years, 20, etc. but I hope that games coming out of Japan don't pander or water down for international tastes. I'm sure there's plenty of ways to navigate these waters but I'm not qualified to make any suggestions.
Yeah I don't think people have to worry about a repeat of the 360/PS3 era here, this seems more like an acknowledgment that the global gaming market has grown and is far more diverse than it was even 10-15 years ago. Stuff like Yakuza and Nier and Persona and Xenoblade are breaking out in the West without needing to change all the characters to buff, bald space marines.
Isn't this the reason every Japanese publisher is pursuing the global audience now?
They realized how much more money is to be made overseas, so they are finally shifting out of this awful "Japan first, rest of world later" mentality with regards to game releases.
They realized how much more money is to be made overseas, so they are finally shifting out of this awful "Japan first, rest of world later" mentality with regards to game releases.
I mean that seems pretty obvious considering how little most non-Nintendo FP games sell at retail in Japan nowadays. FFXVI would be a catastrophic loss for the company if they were solely focused on Japanese sales figures.
As long as their games maintain a core standard of quality and don't wear themselves thin chasing trends that will be out of style before a project can actually finish, I think it's perfectly understandable for Square to want to ensure they can turn a profit worldwide.
As long as their games maintain a core standard of quality and don't wear themselves thin chasing trends that will be out of style before a project can actually finish, I think it's perfectly understandable for Square to want to ensure they can turn a profit worldwide.
Source? I swore they just said they wanted to do something new? Dang it.
it's interesting to see how much things have shifted in the console space.
Back in the day, it was common for there to be Japanese-only titles that never left the country (even from some of the bigger developers there). That idea is far less-common now and really only applies to Switch-oriented content that is very Japanese-focused (Such as some Konami fare on Switch).
Now, if you want Japan to be able to be profitable on a title alone. You more or less need to make it with Switch as part of the discussion (and even that isn't always a bonafide assurance of profit) or have a very modest budget in mind.
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I don't think that's either good or bad but it does really highlight how much development has changed in the non-indie space for the majority of devs. There's far less "We're just gonna make something and see what happens, if it's popular in Japan we'll consider a worldwide release"
Back in the day, it was common for there to be Japanese-only titles that never left the country (even from some of the bigger developers there). That idea is far less-common now and really only applies to Switch-oriented content that is very Japanese-focused (Such as some Konami fare on Switch).
Now, if you want Japan to be able to be profitable on a title alone. You more or less need to make it with Switch as part of the discussion (and even that isn't always a bonafide assurance of profit) or have a very modest budget in mind.
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I don't think that's either good or bad but it does really highlight how much development has changed in the non-indie space for the majority of devs. There's far less "We're just gonna make something and see what happens, if it's popular in Japan we'll consider a worldwide release"
Not surprised their AAA games aren't on the platform that is dominating Japan and software sales (in Japan) on PlayStation has cratered. Surprised they're still so keen on exclusivity deals, especially on PC, instead of growing their audience, but this argument has been rehashed many times before.
Sega, Bamco, Media.Vision, etc... said the same thing last year so....
"recoup development investment and generate a profit"
I think we know how SE has approached such a predicament and by this i mean to get paid and provide shotty PC ports. Yeah i'm bitter, sue me.
I think we know how SE has approached such a predicament and by this i mean to get paid and provide shotty PC ports. Yeah i'm bitter, sue me.
Even pivoting to the Switch wouldn't help them. That's the problem. They might get more sales in Japan but it won't be enough to keep the company afloat overall. They need successes on Switch and on other platforms so that they can make money worldwide. That's the whole point of this - they need to widen their scope and not laser-focus on one market.
Yeah more about just exporting all their games worldwide vs just japan only games.
Their western IPs sold like shit compared to their Japanese IPs.
They need to go full focus on releasing their Japanese IPs more often and not block releases like what happened with DQX Offline.
Right. People don't seem to understand what they're saying here. They aren't saying "we need to make Western games", they're saying "we need to make really good games that appeal to everyone instead of tripling down on a constantly-contracting Japanese retail console market".
Maybe you should put your biggest titles in, you know, as many platforms and services as possible
I didn't prescribe them to pivot to Switch. I just said I'm not surprised at this outcome given those factors. The part I did prescribe was that they are extremely risk adverse and focus on exclusivity deals instead of trying to grow their audience on other platforms that they need if they're going to focus on the global market.
No we're in agreement, I just mean that at some point they did start to try and cater more to the Western audience. I'm sure that they learned their lesson since I think it hurt them creatively a bit.
This is all Yuji said
Dragon Quest 12 The Flames of Fate Revealed on Unreal Engine 5 - Yuji Horii: "It's Not Turn Based, Darker And For Adults"
Square Enix revealed Dragon Quest 12, coming with a worldwide simultaneous release date -Yuji Horii: "the battle system is not turn based, and the game is darker"
www.dualshockers.com
View: https://twitter.com/YujiHorii/status/1397884835872473092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1397884835872473092%7Ctwgr%5E7218ad5f665e1378f66cba6fb86dacbd5249dd2d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dualshockers.com%2Fdragon-quest-12-the-flames-of-fate-revealed-yuji-horii-not-turn-based-unreal-engine-5%2F
You know if they make it a huge Souls like DQ game it would kinda be a fresh take on dq1 in a way
Every time you swing your extremely unwieldy sword, a cartoon "6" pops up over the enemy's head and they take almost no damage or hitstun. The enemy has 40,000 HP but you're still doing Dragon Quest damage numbers. RIP. :(
False. They only said they are making some changes to command system.
And they will still split series across different platforms then be disappointed at the sales.
It was in the game anniversary reveal.
The game will be more action focused, check the poster above.
Wouldn't the logical consequence would be to make your games as broadly available as possible? SEGA is having great success with it. Square-Enix staggered releases and deals which seem to be meant to safeguard against rising development costs aren't ideal for long-term IP growth in my opinion. The FF VII R launch on Steam was pretty underwhelming after all that wait time with the deals made beforehand, for example. And the game should really be available for cloud streaming on Switch and on Xbox by now as well.
Square just got off on the right foot here.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can become successful by exporting all your media all over the entire world. If you start catering to a Western audience in Japan, you bring ridicule to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that ridicule is to prove your shareholders that you are right.
What this means is the japanese shareholders, after hearing about this, are not going to want to purchase Square stocks, nor will they invest into any of Square's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Square has alienated an entire stock market with this move.
Square, persevere and prove all the skeptics wrong or you can kiss your business goodbye.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can become successful by exporting all your media all over the entire world. If you start catering to a Western audience in Japan, you bring ridicule to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that ridicule is to prove your shareholders that you are right.
What this means is the japanese shareholders, after hearing about this, are not going to want to purchase Square stocks, nor will they invest into any of Square's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Square has alienated an entire stock market with this move.
Square, persevere and prove all the skeptics wrong or you can kiss your business goodbye.
And I'll be there to buy them all.
Left Alive, The Quiet Man, Mindjack, - I bought them all day 1. Definitely part of the problem...
I feel like the new issue is quickly made GAAS spinoffs or games that are chasing that GAAS money. Much like when there was that Japanese mobile franchises phase.
Where are they going to go? They keep giving on deals to Nintendo and Sony (which is okay), so people who already have those consoles are content. Xbox users probably won't bite when their biggest remake skipped the console. Steam users are a bit confused with the late ports with little to no marketing, plus the egs deals aren't helping.
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The later part especially is mind numbingly short sighted.
It speaks to the extreme short term strategy/ thinking, taking money hats while limiting selling potential by not releasing games on the best selling hardware worldwide, ei Switch, in addition to not targeting the PC and Xbox in many cases as well.
At the very least they shouldn't be skipping Steam. It kind of seems like Epic exclusivity is coming to an end, but I'm dumbfounded by how they've handled Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Final Fantasy XVI being 6 month exclusive before it can release on PC is just weird, like at that point what is even the point?
Haven't been this the case in the last decade or so ?
And now, can you please stop the ( japanese only ) release? DQ10 offline and Star Ocean 2R being stuck on the JP PSN since forever.
And now, can you please stop the ( japanese only ) release? DQ10 offline and Star Ocean 2R being stuck on the JP PSN since forever.
