Square Enix Profits Plunge 76% on “Discerning Consumers”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Feb 4, 2011 03:23 JST
- Tags: Business, Final Fantasy, Marketing, RPG, Square Enix, Statistics
Square Enix is reporting profits for fiscal 2010 to date are down 76% to a mere $22 million, a change it blames on “more discerning consumers.”
Sales are also down 27.5% to $120 million, with a 58% decrease in operating profit.
Announcing the disastrous figures, Square Enix offered this excuse:
“Consumers have become relentlessly discerning, and the gap between titles which sell and those which don’t is widening. We’ll recover by investing in quality products which will appeal to consumers.”
Needless to say, its stock price is now at the lowest ever in the company’s history.
With a succession of handheld and mobile games all it has scheduled for release, and the poor reception of such “new IP” as NieR and Mindjack, to say nothing of the disaster which is Final Fantasy XIV, it is hard to see any imminent improvement in the company’s financial position.
With the last decade a succession of increasingly dire failures, and that decade also strangely coinciding with the tenure of Yoichi Wada as CEO, it seems increasingly clear only his departure is likely to restore the company to growth.
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"We’ll recover by investing in quality products which will appeal to consumers"
If it's that simple, why weren't you doing it already?
I am guessing they are not so sure what quality products are
They are doing it now, their investment is a damn near rewrite of FFXIV while charging the users nothing and still letting them play. Hopefully the XI team can fix it because they are losing their asses on those servers.
A real investment would be dropping the enix...
"With the last decade a succession of increasingly dire failures, and that decade also strangely coinciding with the tenure of Yoichi Wada as CEO, it seems increasingly clear only his departure is likely to restore the company to growth."
When a mighty tree producing quality fruit has parts that start festering with diseases, said parts need to be cut off...
*looks at Yoichi Wada*
With a double-bladed flaming chain saw...
-Azure Xuchilbara
(account suspended)
Discerning my ass
Give us shit, and we will treat it like shit
13 the movie and 14 the china mmo are not quality products, you stupid corporate trash
FF13 is that bad. When all you are doing is walking down a corridor and blocked off by invisible walls for a majority of the game, you are playing an rpg that not only is made for retards, you are playing an rpg that doesn't even satisfy in the least even in terms of story. The only credit can be gievn to it is the visuals and that makes it nothing more than a mediocre hollywood flick. Sure Americans play shitty games but shitty generic rpg xy is still just as bad. And call of duty as crappy as it is, has at least a passable multiplayer aspect to it that supplements the shitty campaign.
"Hopefully the XI team can fix it because they are losing their asses on those servers."
The original XI team did make 14, hope you weren't one of those people trying to imply otherwise.
@ Tano
Please don't try to defend bad games by putting down other games. Games that are a decade old to boot.
And don't blame other consoles either. Whether that is true or not, it was still a decision made by SE. If the game was hypothetically fantastic before it went multiplat, then SE made some awful decisions by throwing tons of design and programming work in the garbage bin.
@15:59
They didn't. There was some devs from FFXI but not that much.
They called in more FFXI devs when Tanaka left.
How not agree with this?
i can't believe you're blaming a jrpg for using invisible walls...
it's like you're blaming every jrpg produced until now.
a corridor? come on, it's linear just as ffx, with 65 optional missions in grand pulse.
still less than the other games from the same franchise, but i believe it's enjoyable. it's not so bad.
consider also that SE had to cut 5 gb of maps and items from the final version because of the xbox360.
think about it: the only part of the game that is not linear and that you can explore again aven after beating the final boss is in the last DVD (from chapter 11).
blame microsoft for that. ff13 was going to be a really good game. now it's just 8/10, but always better than COD. imo.
what we cant like both macho shooters and rpgs now?
perhaps i may be mistaken, but older more successful rpgs simply focused on being fun and good as opposed to targeting demographics, i think while targeting demographics has certainly been a positive step for marketing, and in many cases it has shown results. it seems like SE makes the target market their main focus for the game rather than actually making the game "fun."
and dont go blaming names for this, as the enix side was well settled in developing games for entertainment. they were the ones who brought games like valkyrie profile and star ocean to the table.
they are redoing ff14 letting users play for free, and let me say that ff13 was not so bad at all. and what about birth by sleep?
also let me say that shitty games like the last call of duty sold 10 times more than ff13. same graphic, bad ps3 porting, a lot of bugs, short story, same gameplay. it sold more than gt5, god of war 3 and ff13.
i agree with square. there are too many american macho likers and casual gamers.
what's the problem? redoing ff14 letting users play for free, kingdom hearts birth by sleep, ds remakes, and also ff13 was actually better than any call of duty (and the last sold 10 million copies in the first week), and with less bugs.
that's actually quality.
the last call of duty: bugs, short story, same old gameplay, same old graphic.
kinect games: casual shit. still killapps.
i agree with square. new gamers are just casual gamers or american macho likers.
That's a load of elitist bunk.
It's generally accepted that folks would pay for something good rather than receive garbage for free, and all the retooling in the world won't make all the previous bad press go away. Not to mention your opinion on the quality of call of duty hardly being objective or as absolute as implied.
Square-enix constantly underestimates their user base in both the Japan and NA markets and now they're paying for it.
The sad thing they know what the user base wants and its 3 games FF7 remake, Kingdom Hearts 3 and Einhinder 2. That's all they want and they say FF7 remake is too hard then what the fuck is making three games at one time is...EASY give me a fucking break SE.
FF14 being free is not them being philanthropists. It doesn't make them money. Obviously this was intended to be their "killer title" for the end of the year.
I also like how you rag on casual games then defend S-E for releasing games for portable systems, which are more casual. Same about remakes. CoD is nothing but remakes, but S-E DS remakes are so awesome!
Oh my SquareEnix, u so crazy.
So their Bottom line is still in the Green/ Black Not In the Red Ink and the Share Price has Plunged to an all time low
Seems like a Buy to me honestly
My reasoning it's still Profitable just far less than before and value wise it has traded for more money when it was worth less, although the outlook is a bit dim to compensate we will see if they can turn it around but at this price I don't think I would see a bankruptcy guys So Buy ^^.
If not and people are pessimistic then Short IT XD it is at the 52 week low gotta find the support somewhere haha.
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=9684:JP
They don't make games from thee heart. SE new games are all shallow and about money.
my thoughts exactly. How do these people who lack common sense get into such positions of power?!
I think they done it with NieR, a very good game, despite the warm reception.
"We’ll recover by investing in quality products which will appeal to consumers.”
So they were putting out shitty games on purpose before now?
clearly customers are not discerning if world of warcraft is still one of the most played games to date. that's like saying crack addicts are discerning individuals because they know which crack is best.
I assure you, crack that sucks won't be smoked as much as crack that wins.
Prolly why WoW does better then the rest of the MMOs cos they're crack is better.
when i was in school, i hung out with the stoners, mainly because they rarely talked about fucking sports, or clung to their girlfriends obsesivly.
now, they would not smoke shit, if they had anything better.
its like comparing the leaves to the buds. there is thc in both, but the buds got so much more than the leaves.
or swag to the keff (sp on both, never been a stoner, but i know what they mean)
now in an mmo, community is EVERYTHING, more so than gameplay.
wow has the most active userbase of all mmos that are currently active, it doesn't matter if the user base is made of rocket scientists, or of 12 year olds screaming foul language into the mic, there is opertunity for EVERYONE to have fun in that game.
now ff14, even if you can look passed the game flaws, only 25000 people play that game, and for anyone who doesn't know thats fucking pathetic. for any server to even feal populated, you need closer to 5000 per server.
i play the test server in everquest, less than 200 people will be on at any given time, and at (normal) peaks (not the servers went down but test is still up peaks) little over 1000. it feals like NOBODY is ever playing the game with me, im a soloist, i went from level 1-83 with 1400aa basically solo, its not the best, but its damn good compared to people who cant solo at all.
Ridiculous comparison.
WoW is accessible. By being easier than other MMOs, WoW attracts people who don't play much or would suck at harder games.
WoW is successful. It is riding on the social factor now. Everyone knows someone who plays WoW. When you pick up an MMO do you play with friends or try a new game by yourself?
WoW has frequent and significant content updates. This is possible because the game is successful.
Anonymous
15:42
wow is rediculusly easy in the beginning, i just played it for a few hours, got to 10, and stopped for the day, all in all, 4 hours max.
i appreciate the way quests are gotten, far more so than everquest. however the game seams to ramp the difficulty up allot at the higher end.
an mmo needs to hold your hand in the begining. possibly show you 4-5 teirs of armor (what you can get at 10-20-30-40-50, so you have reference for how good something should be. and than kick your ass. i think an mmo should have a learning curve, and they all need better in game tutorials, for everything.
Well considering how Blizzard has good community because they talk to players and try to reason with people who have issues with the game and try to fix those issues.Square soft doesn't have people who can reason with players who have issues with the game.
DC Universe Online for example has a bad community right now because SOE choose to ignore information that could help them make there Online games they developed better.They had made some popular MMO such as Everquest,Free Realms,Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™,EverQuest® II I was surpise some have a big support in the MMO Community.
quote for the win
What? Only 76%? Should be 96% at least!
haha agreed
Of course. Seems that some people don't understand how companies work. First you become succesful and aim to make profit. The next step is lifting your legs onto the table and go posting on the internet. Then you either go bankrupt or go back to phase one.
thats what you get for making shitty games
@ Michael
I lol'ed at your comment and avatar combo XD
indeed, they need to pull there finger out and fix the company or the only thing they will be making is the trip to there next job interview.
Nier was a good game how come it had bad reception!?
Nier had a very good reception in Japan; the Replicant version was described as selling really well by the game's director. The American audience also adopted the game into their lists of most influential and important titles of the generation. The majority of "professional" reviewers didn't know what they were talking about, with one of them giving Nier a low grade because he couldn't follow basic instructions provided by in-game text.
The problem arises from the Gestalt version adding additional time and money to the development process, but failing to sell well. Some western gamers even refused to buy it on the grounds of the main character looking irredeemably ugly. The complaints weren't so much about his older design as they were about a visibly lower rendering quality than on every other character.
In other words, SquareEnix listened to the demands of a complete idiot from their marketing division in Los Angeles, disastrously mis-marketed the game to a wrong audience and then tried to save face by lying to people about the development process when the result failed to sell.
I think that rather than making statements like these, they should make a public apology to Nier's creator for violating his game and ruining its sales in the process.
The sad thing the people that made Nier their company went under because of what happened with the LA division. They fucked over the series by getting scared and over thinking for fans. By thinking for the fans before they even have a chance this is why I hate PR people in gaming these days because they're overpaid bastards that are a cancer these days. It's basically let get a quick buck, fuck quality because they'll buy it anyway.
I totally would have gotten Nier in NA if it was Replicant with a dual language function. =/
Sometimes I wonder if they even play their own games before releasing them...
The profits are taking a nose dive with the quality of their games. I used to be so happy to buy games with the Squaresoft logo, but now if I see the words "Square Enix" on the box I run the other way.
"Relentlessly discerning" = the consumers are not satisfied with the half-assed BS games they've been putting out lately.
They are trying with FF14 at least. The new producer has a lot of energy, knows what needs to be done, and communicates MUCH better than anyone else I can remember at SE. Unfortunately, there's only so much he can do at once, and the game already has the taint of a horrific launch.
As for other games, well, they need to stop putting out crap on mobile phones and portables that only Japanese people play and focus on quality titles for the real consoles. Some good new IPs like they were pumping out nonstop 10 years ago, and refocusing some existing IPs will also help. For instance, they need to stop with the endless spinoffs that only further complicate the labyrinthine canon of Kingdom Hearts and come out with KH3 before the value of that brand completely evaporates. Unfortunately they already announced FFXIII-2, but they need to hurry and move on to XV as soon as they can to get a fresh start.
They are trying because they can't afford to scrap it. It's supposed to be their new cash cow.
Maybe this'll make them realize they needs the diversity they had back in the PS1 days...
Maybe they'll smarten up and buy back monolith so we can have a Xenogears remake? That's probably a stretch...
bring a remade of CHRONO TRIGGER OR CHRONO CROSS for any console
Sorry, not happening. Wada's still pissed that Chrono Trigger DS ONLY sold a paltry million copies. A sales figure any other JRPG company would kill for, but SE still took a loss on it because Wada produced way too many copies of it, as always. Most people would learn after making the same costly mistake dozens of times over...not Wada, however.
Yeah. A 13 year old game (now 16) only sold a million copies.
Take a hint SE and bring us Chrono Break on consoles.
Don't touch Chrono Trigger with any hairy fingers! Sequel - good. Remakes - NO. I'm tired with all those changes in Chrono Trigger they pulled out of their @ss to justify Chrono Cross.
I can't even comprehend why they always need to monkey around with the gameplay in every game. Like a CT sequel with pretty much the same mechanics wouldn't sell...
Don't people generally play these games for the characters/story/graphics? I could give a rat's ass about innovative gameplay in a JRPG. Maybe I'm just weird.
I still think Lost Odyssey is the best Final Fantasy of this generation lol...
Actually the best FF since IX...probably will be for the next 10 years. D:
Yeah, Lost Odyssey is the best RPG I have played in a decade.
Too bad few who play RPGs have heard of it since it was doomed to a 360-only release. The game is incredible and yet no one can play it, and since no Japanese people have played it (due to there being only 3 or so 360 owners in the country) the likelihood of a sequel is slim...