Hisachi Suzuki, Square Enix’s former president, stated in a tweet that Square’s merger with Enix failed and the company had ‘lost its vision for the future.’ With Square Enix’s lackluster sales and questionable titles lately, it’s easy to see why the company might be having trouble lately. The company is not the video game giant it once was and Square Enix has not been able to keep up with the current trends in gaming. With a record that continues to get more depressing as time goes on and little in the way of relief for the company’s future, this very well could be Square Enix’s last generation.
To begin with, the company has had a tumultuous financial history. In a six month period that ended on September 30th, their sales fell drastically and they went from predicting an even income to accepting a loss. This is despite releasing their new and critically acclaimed IP Sleeping Dogs and an incredibly favorable continuous income from the online services of Dragon Quest X. The company has had its high points—especially with a few of its Final Fantasy games and its sequelitis-plagued Kingdom Hearts series—but it hasn’t seen one of those in a while and it’s starting to affect their long-term financial outlook.
What’s more, it’s unlikely that a major release would bring in enough money to even compare to their older games. Their new IP sold a disappointing amount, Final Fantasy XIII proved disappointing in both sales and content, and most of their major money-makers are not slated for a release any time soon. The best thing they have lined up in their future currently is Hitman: Absolution. That’s the game they hope brings in holiday sales. They’re also relying on an increased income from games they’ve already released—specifically, Sleeping Dogs—but as their financial statement said, the sales are not increasing gradually over time as they had hoped.
The most telling problem that Square Enix faces actually comes from within. Their sequels have been incredibly disappointing lately, with the Final Fantasy XIII fiasco deterring gamers from its comparably good sequel. The constant influx of Kingdom Hearts spin-offs hasonly served to convolute the story, and a few of them are obvious attempts at grabbing for cash (I’m looking at you, 358/2 Days and Dream Drop Distance). This decreased quality of games over time has only been detrimental to Square Enix, and even though their latest title Sleeping Dogs has proved to be an amazing game, their track record has scared gamers away from trying it.
I’m actually a huge fan of the company and like a lot of the things that they’re doing. However, the company is undoubtedly having trouble adjusting to its new western competition in the gaming world. Hopefully Hisachi Suzuki’s words were just banter from an ex-employee and do not reflect the actual state of the company—but the fact it could be true and would match all of Square Enix’s sales and announcements show that Square Enix is in big trouble. Hopefully the company will still be around to enjoy the next generation of gaming.
No, square has had its best gen.
Wada should be fired. But square did great rpg wise this gen
ff had its best gen, kh, and dq