Square Enix Producing Another MMO for Some Reason

Despite the fact that the publisher hasn't exactly had the best track record with MMO development thus far-- Final Fantasy XI was tepidly received, but managed a decent audience following; Final Fantasy XIV...not so much--Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada seems awfully sure of the company's ability to develop and maintain a bunch of these things.

In a transcript posted yesterday of the publisher's May 13th earnings call--which was translated by Andriasang--Wada stated that the company has a new MMO title in development that the company hopes to announce in this fiscal year. What that title is, exactly, is unclear at the moment, but it is something separate from the current titles Squeenix already maintains. Wada believes that the company having two-to-three different online subscription-based titles will help maintain the company's cash flow.

That probably doesn't do much to quell the seething hate currently residing within anyone still playing Final Fantasy XIV. Wada did apparently go out of his way to mention the problems currently plaguing that title and to state that fixing it will take a little longer, but that a "target" is in sight. So that's reassuring. Probably. Okay, not really.

Also, no word yet on that PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIV, but I'm guessing there's not very many of you out there still keeping a candle burning for that one.

One word. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Oh my, Square Enix stop it...STOP IT, stop.

whyyyyyy indeed 

People need to stop making MMOs.

Alex writes the best headlines. I always know he wrote the article from the headline alone.

Because they did such a fine job with FFXIV

People need to stop making bad MMOs.

Great title and caption.

Third time's the charm, mother fuckers! WOOO
 
Edit: How...did I get the First! quest with that?

XD This is gonna be what they announce at E3 instead of Kingdom Hearts III? I love you, Square. YOU SO SILLY!

One word. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

@TripMasterMunky said:

People need to stop making bad MMOs.

fixed for ya.

MMO's that don't do that well must still make obscene amounts of money, because so many people seem to be quite willing to make more of them despite the overall lack of success in most cases.

@TripMasterMunky said:

People need to stop making bad MMOs.

fixed for ya.  

Squenix MMO's make baby Chocobos cry.

FFXV GOOOOOOOOOO

they r making a new one because they know 14 was so bad and it's too late to fix it.

One word. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Final Fantasy XI was good, but Final Fantasy XIV was DREADFUl!

I remember when Square mattered. I blame The Spirits Within for the downfall of one of my former favorite publishers.

Maybe they should start making old-school turn based RPGs again. They seemed to be doing just fine when they were making those, and I'd be happy to buy them.

Image caption hilarious, LOL

Just... stop, Square. Just stop. 
It ain't even funny anymore. You've become akin to a chicken with its head cut off, flailing spastically about in a feeble attempt to recapture your former glory and it is quite frankly beyond sad now.

Please God don't sully another core Final Fantasy title for this. Ever since 11 it's been hit and miss, and now with XIV to bookend that weird batch, FFXV is gonna be a return to form!
 
BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IT WORKS!

It'll be interesting to see where they go with this. SE seems to be a lot about experimentation lately (much to the chagrin of their more closeminded fans, it seems) and seems FFXIV's trouble really didn't get them down about it. I honestly don't care if they want to make this as long as they keep putting out solid singleplayer experiences too. In my opinion, they have.
 
On the other hand, I could just mimic the most common response I've seen to this kind of news across the internet: "STUPID SQUARE ENIX HOW DARE YOU EXPERIMENT, HOW DARE YOU TRY NEW THINGS OR TRY AGAIN AFTER A FAILURE, YOU'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO CATER TO ME A SINGULAR AMERICAN CUSTOMER YOU'VE NEVER MET! SDKJFHKSDFLDGLH!!"

It'll be interesting to see where they go with this. SE seems to be a lot about experimentation lately (much to the chagrin of their more closeminded fans, it seems) and seems FFXIV's trouble really didn't get them down about it. I honestly don't care if they want to make this as long as they keep putting out solid singleplayer experiences too. In my opinion, they have. On the other hand, I could just mimic the most common response I've seen to this kind of news across the internet: "STUPID SQUARE ENIX HOW DARE YOU EXPERIMENT, HOW DARE YOU TRY NEW THINGS OR TRY AGAIN AFTER A FAILURE, YOU'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO CATER TO ME A SINGULAR AMERICAN CUSTOMER YOU'VE NEVER MET! SDKJFHKSDFLDGLH!!"

Square's gonna cut to the chase for this title, and call it WORLD OF WARCRAFT KILLER: THE MMORPG.

Alex writes the best headlines. I always know he wrote the article from the headline alone.

Square Enix is slowly turning into one of the worst companys. The only thing thats rescuing them is the (hopefuly) good remakes that Eidos are making with Thief 4, Deus Ex 3 and maybe Legacy of Kain 6.

FFXIV is out?

It'll be interesting to see where they go with this. SE seems to be a lot about experimentation lately (much to the chagrin of their more closeminded fans, it seems) and seems FFXIV's trouble really didn't get them down about it. I honestly don't care if they want to make this as long as they keep putting out solid singleplayer experiences too. In my opinion, they have. On the other hand, I could just mimic the most common response I've seen to this kind of news across the internet: "STUPID SQUARE ENIX HOW DARE YOU EXPERIMENT, HOW DARE YOU TRY NEW THINGS OR TRY AGAIN AFTER A FAILURE, YOU'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO CATER TO ME A SINGULAR AMERICAN CUSTOMER YOU'VE NEVER MET! SDKJFHKSDFLDGLH!!"

@Norusdog said:

@TripMasterMunky said:

People need to stop making bad MMOs.

fixed for ya.  

Saying bad MMOs is a little too common now-a-days.  Also squareenix is fucking crazy right now. I have no idea what they're trying for in the publishing world. Maybe just throwing everything at a wall to see what sticks. 

@Norusdog said:

@TripMasterMunky said:

People need to stop making bad MMOs.

fixed for ya.

do you mean 95% of them

Making multiple of half-ass MMOs is worse than having a decent or good MMO.

Lets be honest...when was the last year Square mattered? What happened to games like Einhander, Xenogears, and I guess you could call them "classic FF" games? This company has been developing in a vacuum for a decade now. Any goodwill they got for XI is and should be gone. I don't mean to rant but these guys really did make great games back in the day..I dunno best of luck to you Square but Im not gonna hold my breath on any project they have in mind 

I know chasing Blizzard is pretty pointless now, but I don't see how running 3 average games concordantly is any better that spending time making 1 great game...development costs and time should be fairly equal. It's not like Square Enix are running a Torchlight operation where they legitimately need cash to continue with any other product, is it?!

I know chasing Blizzard is pretty pointless now, but I don't see how running 3 average games concordantly is any better that spending time making 1 great game...development costs and time should be fairly equal. It's not like Square Enix are running a Torchlight operation where they legitimately need cash to continue with any other product, is it?!

About 11 months ago they said they were intending on fixing FF14 cause they knew how bad it was. Guess some guy was just like "fuck it, lets put this behind us and try again".

Let's just let this franchise die for a while...please? Make proper RPGS square...just forget about this crap!

The definition of insanity is making the same mistake and expecting a different result. Hang it up Square Enix. Seriously.

MMOs only make crazy money if you're willing to invest a lot of server- and manpower on making sure it runs smoothly and updates regularly. If Squeenix is just treating them as some kind of necessary evil to bankroll their other projects, it's no wonder FFXIV turned out the way it did.
 
Though to be fair, creating shoddy MMOs is a much better business strategy than creating shoddy CGI movies.

Part of me feels that Squenix should just stop making games at all for the time being. Just take a step back and look at your place in the industry and maybe start fresh in a few years when you have some original ideas to bring to the table. I'm worried that they have done nothing but tarnish their reputation in the last 5 years or so, and if it keeps up they will lose the Western market entirely.

Jeez Alex; could you write that article with any more cynicism, please? ;)
 
Yes FFXIV is a bit of a disaster. But Square still ran FF11 successfully. They keep trying to do newer, more interesting, more charming MMOs too - like the short-lived Fantasy Earth Zero (short lived here in the US anyway; it's pretty successful in Japan and China). And also that Wakfu game with the great sprite art.
 
So lay off the cynicism man. If they're bringing on more interesting MMOs, and pushing them as hard as a Final Fantasy, than this can only be a good thing. There's a lot more people working on things there than just the FFXIV team.
 
...
 
Of course, all the Tetsuya Nomura led teams suck there too currently. *sigh*

Square Enix needs to stick with what they know from now on. Unfortunately they have dollarsigns (or Yen signs?) in their eyes after seeing how much money Blizzard and other companies with paid subscriptions make. They don't want to downsize the company and unfortunately their only real big seller is Final Fantasy, and they can't pull an Activision on that series and release one every year.  
 
-If anyone at Square Enix comes across this...don't release a Final Fantasy every year..please.

I think this isn't what we think it is.  
 
Just because Sqenix is releasing a game doesn't mean it's their FF studio by any means - it could be from a small studio.  It could also be a low-budget, sprite-based thing along the lines of Dungeon Fighter - you know, something that could be run on any machine, browser-based, cheap to play, integrated with Facebook or iOS or both.   Maybe a Kingdom Hearts-based MMO brawler.
 
With the exception of Guild Wars 2, that's pretty much the only kind of MMO I'd be interested in at the moment, and I don't think the more MMO-focused gamers would trust Square with another big-budget thing.