Square Enix and expectations

 

I've always had something of a soft spot for Square Enix. Perhaps the biggest Japanese game developer in the world after Nintendo, Square have pretty much always championed the proliferation of Japanese game media in the west in the pig-headed determination that there would be a market there. (Barring some odd years in the late 80's and early 90's.) Where 'traditional logic' would dictate that such markets are so diametrically opposed you would be burning money to even attempt that- and honestly given the size of the market back then such dissention might have actually been right- within the age we live now gaming has become so wide spread and the generalised experience has become so saturated that any experience from a fundamentally distinct viewpoint is going to stand out in blazing glory. Such was the case with Square Enix and their constant output of high quality, overwise niche, JRPG games. (And yes, there is a value towards separating Japanese RPGs and Western RPGs for the fundamentally distinct way both exist and serve their audiences- it's frankly silly to see otherwise.)

But as much as I respect the company, I can't help but critique their approach to the past few years wherein it seems like they've kind of lost the grip on who they want to be in the market and how to sustainable stay there. Which to be fair is not exactly a unique problem to Square- 2020 pretty much drove the entire industry absolutely insane and birthed a plethora of short sighted drives, the consequences of which are still being felt to this day across the industry. But Square's problems seem to be curiously unrelated to 2020. In fact, they don't appear to have been affected nearly as bad as some other studios and in fact have a totally different, and perhaps more insidious, issue creeping up to their company- they don't know how to sell games anymore. At least, no as well as they once did.

Square were superstars of their day, publishing the biggest RPG in the world at one point 'Final Fantasy', partnering with Eidos to bring their genuinely iconic selection of games and licenses to the world through 'Tomb Raider' and 'Deux Ex' and maintaining Disney's only remaining foot into the world of gaming with Kingdom Hearts. They made gangbusters, no one could match what they made and theirs was something of a loyal and captivated audience- if not a captive on because no one published the sorts of games they did. Even Dragon Quest, arguably a more popular franchise in Japan, couldn't hold a candle to FF to anyone off those shores. (I kind of understand why- Dragon Quest never quite appealed to me as much as I wish it would.) But we don't live in those days anymore.

Eidos stopped being the money printer that Square wanted it to be and after a few less than successful outings Square, somewhat abrasively, sacrificed them to the mysterious eldritch flesh pit known as the 'Embracer Group'- much to the dismay of all. (They haven't put out a new game since.) The Japanese video game market has blown up even further outside of their purview now that SEGA has caught up with the adult market pawing superstar offerings such as 'Yakuza/Like a Dragon' and 'Persona'. And their once loyal audience just aren't turning up their games like they once did and that is shaking one of the core foundations of any business venture- it's ratting against expectations.

Now in recent entries Final Fantasy has hit something of it's cultural zenith following the record sales of Final Fantasy XV and then Final Fantasy VII Remake- and since then we've not heard a good internal word about their performance. Oh sure, FFXVI and Rebirth hit the sales charts strong but all you'll hear from the earnings reports is grumblings about projections and tightening belts. And I suppose when you run a franchise as ungainly large as Final Fantasy, anything short of a phenom is going to rub a little raw. If people aren't buying this game five times over for every member of their family then why are we really here making games to begin with, know what I'm saying? And in that comes the somewhat backwards perception that recent Final Fantasy games have been flops.

They haven't, to be clear. Profit generators and critical darlings, more like. But they haven't been smash mega hits, either. And I suppose this comes down to that tricky word, doesn't it? That word of 'Expectations' and what a company thinks it should be worth outside of what it is actually receiving. Success doesn't soothe when you wanted a certain degree of success, and mitigating circumstances aside- such as the fact that Square Enix are the only JRPG developer sticking to the now-antiquated practice of first serving a specific console with 12 months exclusivity, failing to hit expectations is failing to woo upper management. Although- perhaps one might argue we've hit something of a self-fulfilling prophecy here, when you really think about it. 

Square Enix go out of their way to establish deals that limit the availability of their launch games to, let's generously say half of their potential audience. (Because by this I'm just discounting Xbox as a viable platform for Square fans given it's lack of popularity and Square's seeming disdain for ever releasing there.) Marketing money goes towards giant campaigns to let everyone know the game is releasing- and then it drops as a Playstation exclusive only to limp onto PC quietly a year later- and they wonder why their numbers don't match the same as an international launch? And then they turn around and let everyone know how disappointed they are with Sales figures, which spreads the perception that their franchises are struggling which propagates the reality that there's something wrong with recent Square Enix games.

I'm not saying that everything Square is suffering from is their fault- I think they are encountering a changing market which they used to hold a full monopoly over. I think as the market grows and their internal projections for predicted sales scale accordingly, they aren't factoring how many JRPG fans are suddenly discovering how they like the Megaten style of games more, or maybe the Xenoblade solution. Maybe they're just tired of Square's 20 year long battle to make turn-based games not turn-based, before they gave up and just started making action-based games like they wanted to all these years. Maybe Square needs to pay a bit more attention to the reality check arriving at their door. Or maybe just keep complaining that ever launch doesn't match the hype of the Apollo 11 mission- what do I know, right?