No Final Fantasy XV at E3 this year

[Mirage]

buy them second hand so that SE doesn't get any money from them.

[Ouch!]

From a marketing perspective, holding back any major announcements about either Kingdom Hearts 3 or Final Fantasy XV is a smart move.

For months Yoshida has made us aware of major announcements for FFXIV coming at E3 this year. At the very least, we're going to get reveals on the new classes and jobs coming to the game. It's also very likely that we get a drop date for the first full expansion for the title, which they've said would come out approximately a year after release (so likely some time between September and December 2014). It's also possible we'll get more details on long-discussed but currently unreleased features such as chocobo breeding and racing or the Golden Saucer.

E3 is an ideal platform for Square Enix to drop major news for Final Fantasy XIV. As an MMORPG, FFXIV has a more limited audience. It certainly doesn't demand the media attention that KH3 or FFXV will. They have regular updates and Live Letters that, by and large, go unnoticed by those not already playing the game.

Think about this from Square Enix's perspective: after FFXIV's re-release in August, the company had to revise it's financial forecasts significantly twice to reflect how much that one title has impacted their bottom line. Final Fantasy XIV already has more concurrent subscribers than Final Fantasy XI ever reached at its peak, and FFXI was the single-most lucrative game in the history of the company. It's no wonder that they want to shift attention to FFXIV, and it would become far easier to ignore in the wake of any noise KH3 or FFXV would cause.

E3 provides a platform where everyone is watching. They're going to use that to try and drum up excitement for people who aren't up-to-date on the title and try to swing that into additional subscriptions. People who otherwise wouldn't be looking at the title are going to see it just because they're paying attention to E3, and if they make some big announcements that appeal to long-time Final Fantasy fans (and those fans don't have a shiny new FFXV to be distracted by), they're far more likely to succeed.

Final Fantasy XV and KH3 do not require such a platform. They're a platform unto themselves. Some grunt at Square Enix could make an offhanded comment about either title at a company barbecue and the media would collectively trout themselves and everyone and their mother would hear about it. That's why the comments about why we won't get either title at E3 this year was phrased in the manner that they will show it at the "optimal time". Square Enix can make their own media event for those titles later this summer and it will be just as effective if not more so as doing it now.

On a side note, in regards to Kingdom Hearts 3, I think Square Enix recognizes the issue that they've put themselves in by spreading out important entires into the series over so many different platforms. Obviously the re-releases of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and Kingdom Hearts 2.5 are the solution to resolve this and get the majority of fans of the series on the same page. By consolidating as many of the titles as they can on a single platform, it lets them gear everybody up for Kingdom Hearts 3. It makes sense that they're going to push Kingdom Hearts 2.5 harder ahead of a real marketing campaign for KH3. It makes their job easier down the line.

[Wolf Kanno]

Hate to break it to you Jiro, but since both FFXV and KHIII are being developed by the same team, KHIII probably won't be going into full on development until XV gets released meaning you time table for it's release after KH2.5 is a pipe dream.

THIS. Like seriously. Every single interview Nomura has done in the past 3 or 4 years he's said KHIII won't be moving forward until they finish FFXV on account of the KH team being the one developing XV.

Get it together Jiro!

But didn't they mention they could do both at once since KHIII was being done by the Osaka team?

They are working on both, but my understanding is that the core of the development team is focusing on one while the Osaka team is working out the primary testing. Just watch the few videos of KHIII that have been released, they are obviously demos testing out the game physics and graphic ability, none of it looks like an actual playable game. The Osaka branch is just working on getting the software up and running. I doubt the plot is even fully written out by this point and the few interviews I've read about KHIII, it sounds to me like the team is still trying to sort out all the details of the game at this stage meaning they are in pre-production still and haven't even really begun working on the game. Nomura has said countless times since KHIII's announcement that it is going to be awhile before it gets released. Sorry man, I wouldn't expect it getting released until a minimum of three years after XV's release and that is being overly optimistic.

[fat_moogle]

Sorry Zachie but I completely disagree, I don't see anything "smart" about this decision. Final Fantasy Versus XIII was announced 8 years ago. Since then we've had XIII-2, Lightning Returns, FFX | X-2 HD, Type-0 (huge mistake not releasing in the West) and FFXIV, plus the whole spectacle of the name and platform change of Versus to XV.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

I mean, come on. 8 years. Sure, sure I know it hasn't been in full production for the majority of that period, but even so. The next logical step was a big XV reveal, there's nothing else left standing in its way, so why not show it? I bet we'll get a FFXII HD announcement instead..."due to the success of FFX | X-2 we're pleased to announce FFXII HD. Please continue be excited for FFXV!"

[Rostum]

there's nothing else left standing in its way, so why not show it?

I'm not sure you realise just how big of an impact that FFXIV has had on the company in many areas especially financially. It does make sense that they want to keep it in the spotlight.

It also make sense that they could leave FFXV and KH3 to something like TGS (which is what they usually do anyways) since it'll have just as big of an impact.

Edit: I really hope we get an FFXII HD Remaster announcement!

[FFFFsephychibi]

[QUOTE=Rostum;3427905]

Edit: I really hope we get an FFXII HD Remaster announcement!

I hope they will annouce that too, BUT after a release date is set for ff15, I will cry if another game gets in it's way of being released.

In relation to this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5GZj9sWPkY

[Aulayna]

[QUOTE=FFFFsephychibi;3427908]

Edit: I really hope we get an FFXII HD Remaster announcement!

I hope they will annouce that too, BUT after a release date is set for ff15, I will cry if another game gets in it's way of being released.

In relation to this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5GZj9sWPkY

Well considering they outsourced the remasters of X/X-2 and had a seperate office working on KH1.5/2.5 - a HD remaster of XII won't exactly "get in the way"

[Mirage]

Yeah, with a company as huge as SE, putting all available staff to work on a single game wouldn't really make that game any better. It'd just lead to chaos within their offices. It's no problem to work on a HD remaster while not impeding on the progress of FF15.

[Loony BoB]

It also make sense that they could leave FFXV and KH3 to something like TGS (which is what they usually do anyways) since it'll have just as big of an impact.

This was my first thought, too. TGS has always been the big dog for SE when it comes to any information coming out after the initial reveal that it's being worked on.

This isn't a bad move on SE's part. If anything, the release of information so early on about FFXV was the bad move, because it built up hype before they were ready for it.

I also think FFXV's development has been slowed by FFXIV's success drawing in staff for FFXIV from other development teams. Which is entirely reasonable if you consider how bad a situation SE were in at one point and how much FFXIV has changed that. FFXIV is simply too important to them at the moment and it's not a bad thing - it's a good thing. If FFXIV flopped then they would be putting all their money into FFXV being a success or being the end of Final Fantasy. The better FFXIV does, the more likely we are to continue to see FF releases in the future, let alone SE releasing anything at all.

Hopefully we'll see something at TGS though!

[Elpizo]

While it does kind of suck, I have to agree with Bob and zachie on this. And I do have to admit I'm far more interested in any news surrounding XIV at E3 than I am for XV, but that's probably because XV has been in development for so long that I no longer care, as well as the fact that I don't have a PS4 to play it even if it did come out.

[Jiro]

From a marketing perspective, holding back any major announcements about either Kingdom Hearts 3 or Final Fantasy XV is a smart move.

For months Yoshida has made us aware of major announcements for FFXIV coming at E3 this year. At the very least, we're going to get reveals on the new classes and jobs coming to the game. It's also very likely that we get a drop date for the first full expansion for the title, which they've said would come out approximately a year after release (so likely some time between September and December 2014). It's also possible we'll get more details on long-discussed but currently unreleased features such as chocobo breeding and racing or the Golden Saucer.

E3 is an ideal platform for Square Enix to drop major news for Final Fantasy XIV. As an MMORPG, FFXIV has a more limited audience. It certainly doesn't demand the media attention that KH3 or FFXV will. They have regular updates and Live Letters that, by and large, go unnoticed by those not already playing the game.

Think about this from Square Enix's perspective: after FFXIV's re-release in August, the company had to revise it's financial forecasts significantly twice to reflect how much that one title has impacted their bottom line. Final Fantasy XIV already has more concurrent subscribers than Final Fantasy XI ever reached at its peak, and FFXI was the single-most lucrative game in the history of the company. It's no wonder that they want to shift attention to FFXIV, and it would become far easier to ignore in the wake of any noise KH3 or FFXV would cause.

E3 provides a platform where everyone is watching. They're going to use that to try and drum up excitement for people who aren't up-to-date on the title and try to swing that into additional subscriptions. People who otherwise wouldn't be looking at the title are going to see it just because they're paying attention to E3, and if they make some big announcements that appeal to long-time Final Fantasy fans (and those fans don't have a shiny new FFXV to be distracted by), they're far more likely to succeed.

Final Fantasy XV and KH3 do not require such a platform. They're a platform unto themselves. Some grunt at Square Enix could make an offhanded comment about either title at a company barbecue and the media would collectively trout themselves and everyone and their mother would hear about it. That's why the comments about why we won't get either title at E3 this year was phrased in the manner that they will show it at the "optimal time". Square Enix can make their own media event for those titles later this summer and it will be just as effective if not more so as doing it now.

On a side note, in regards to Kingdom Hearts 3, I think Square Enix recognizes the issue that they've put themselves in by spreading out important entires into the series over so many different platforms. Obviously the re-releases of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and Kingdom Hearts 2.5 are the solution to resolve this and get the majority of fans of the series on the same page. By consolidating as many of the titles as they can on a single platform, it lets them gear everybody up for Kingdom Hearts 3. It makes sense that they're going to push Kingdom Hearts 2.5 harder ahead of a real marketing campaign for KH3. It makes their job easier down the line.

These are all good points, obviously. But again: if Kingdom Hearts III can build its own platform, why bother talking about it instead of XV at E3? Why not actually hype the game you're going to release to people before they die of old age? It just makes no sense, considering the backlash over hyping games up and then going silent on them. Nope, misread that elsewhere. It still rubs me the wrong way that they create these hype trains and then let them die off as if they expect us to survive on scraps for 10 years.

[Ouch!]

Jiro, I think at some point you need to be realistic and recognize that fans also hold a great deal of responsibility for the way studios hype these kind of things. In regards to highly-anticipated sequels, development studios are put in no-win situations when deciding the timing of announcing a game that is nowhere near completion of its development cycle.

If they announce something too soon, like Square Enix has done with Kingdom Hearts III, fans are upset when there's no follow-up news because they're too early in the development cycle. If they wait to announce things, like Valve has done with Half-Life 3, the fans get that hype train going on their own and the company is under endless scrutiny regarding the title anyway.

We do this to ourselves. No matter what the developers do, the hype trains will happen. They may stoke the fires, but we're the ones who go a pour kerosene all over 'em.

[Jiro]

Valve gave the fans an unfinished narrative. They reneged on something they started. Fans have to take responsibility but I don't think those situations are in any way comparable.

EDIT: I'm not entirely sure I make a lot of sense and Half-Life is a series I'm mostly unfamiliar with but, yeah, Valve didn't release Episode 3 so they're exactly the same kind of lying bastards that caused the hype train one way or another.

[Wolf Kanno]

I think the issue here that Jiro has illustrated is that the long delays and lack of info has killed the initial excitement for the game, even worse has been watching SE falter since the game's announcement with a trilogy no one really asked for, an MMO that was a disaster that could have been completely avoided had SE been a bit more patient and actually taken in some feedback, and the disappearance of other projects. Granted, they are now starting to make a comeback with ARR and Bravery Default but let's face it, this game is starting to lose people, SE's handling of their franchise has hurt consumer confidence that they can deliver a Triple A title. I think we'll all be more excited and happy once SE puts a date on this thing and I don't mean "summer of 2015 or second quarter of our financial report" I'm talking about an honest to goodness mark your calendars cause it's coming October 5th, 2015 type of date.

Hell, I probably wouldn't be alone if I said I am still going to wait for it even after it gets released cause I'm not interested in a day one purchase anymore. This long in development is never good and I'm personally waiting for the other shoe to drop on this game. Se should have never announced this game until they were further along but I also understand that part of the delay is due to XIV. Still, I feel we can all agree that SE's handling of this property's announcement has been nothing but disastrous .

[Pete for President]

This has soured me on Square Enix entirely. New rule: don't smurfing announce a game a decade before you release it. Alternative rule: keep your fans properly informed. If Square Enix had said "Oh, we're going to wait for the next gen consoles for this title" I would have said awesome. I would have been positive about it. If Square Enix had said "we've had some hitches along the way, and our primary resources are being dedicated to Kingdom Hearts III and the Final Fantasy XIII compilation" I would have been absolutely satisfied with that. It would have bothered me somewhat, because I was not overly interested in the XIII compilation, but I would have understood. It sold well, and it was a matter of pride. Didn't want to leave the fans with a game that was hot and cold.

But this bulltrout? Square Enix can get smurfed if it expects me to be excited. I'm not going to chat with friends or strangers in the street about how good it looks and how much I want to play it. I'm going to talk to those people about how Square Enix is a shady, selfish company who keeps demanding energy from their fans without giving anything in return. I'm going to talk about the ten year wait, and about how once upon a time Square Enix was able to release 5 of its best and most loved games in the same period it has taken them to release 3 mediocre ones.

Then I am going to talk to people about other games, because I don't smurfing care any more. My patience is gone. I would simply post the same article I published in HYPER but I don't even feel sorry for you any more, Square Enix, I feel like you are becoming the villain.

Best post Ciddies late 2014.

I stand by all of Jiro's points in this thread.