Square Enix's ambitious Final Fantasy XIV Online has been troubled by delays, poor reviews, fan ire, performance issues and subscriber woes since its inception. Even a dramatic reshuffling of the game's management team and the introduction of free trials back in December has done little to rejuvenate its tentpole MMO. Undaunted, Square Enix's CEO Yoichi Wada recently stated the studio is determined to give FFXIV a fighting chance, and is willing to start from scratch to make it work.
“The Final Fantasy brand has been greatly damaged,” he admitted during a Tokyo press conference, adding, “We'll continue with our reform work, which basically amounts to fully redoing the game, and hope to revive the FFXIV that should have been released.”
Wada's statements were published by Japanese news site Sponichi, and translated by Andriasang. No further details were reported regarding a FFXIV redo, however Wada did address concerns that Square Enix's Dragon Quest X represented a permanent shift in the DQ franchise, noting, "We're not making them all online. We'll continue with a variety of developments, online included."
Earlier this month, Square Enix's announced Dragon Quest X would be released for the Wii and Wii U, and that the online MMO would likely require monthly usage fees. This news, combined with the series' new direction, caused Square Enix's stock to dip by ten percent. Moving forward, it's clear Square Enix will need to do some work, and a little PR magic, to turn its online fortunes around.
Sep 27, 2011
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