There is no certainty when it comes to MMORPGs. Especially when it comes to sequels. Sure they've been successful to a degree but Everquest 2 was never the behemoth Everquest 1 was. Asheron's Call 2 no longer exist. EA has never been able to for various reasons get a sequel to Ultima Online out the door. Mythic Entertainment hit the mark with Dark Age of Camelot but completely missed it with Warhammer Online. Funcom wasn't able to replicate the success (it was a come from behind to success story) they had with Anarchy Online when it came to Age of Conan. NC Soft is in the same situation as SOE I think when it comes to Lineage 2 compared to Lineage 1. L1 was huge but I don't think L2 ever reached the level L1 had. Final Fantasy XI was a success but like other games it's population dropped. It's the nature of things. Will that success transfer to Final Fantasy XIV? That remains to be seen.
It would be very foolish for Square-Enix to be counting on that money to even out loses elsewhere.
