zeldaring said:
Soundwave said:
I don't think they have to decrease graphics and scope from where they are now. They just are going to probably have to accept a cold, hard reality that they can't go any higher. They've reached a dead end with graphics as better graphics are not translating to better sales. They're probably spending as is $150-$200 million just to get to FF16/FF7 Rebirth tier visuals. The game's already look quite good as is, so there's not much to cry about there. You're just not going to have a GTAVI tier Final Fantasy game any time soon, and that's OK because I don't think Square's business division is willing to finance a $500 million+ game any way.
They need to get Rebirth to run on the Switch 2 probably, which is likely possible with a little work. That should be about what they can use going forward, and they just need to make realistic choices from there on, roughly 4K for PS5 like FF7 Rebirth is on 30 fps mode, 540-1080p DLSS undocked for Switch 2 (720p docked DLSS) should then translate without too much of a fuss.
Monster Hunter World sold a shit ton more than the recent Final Fantasy games but Capcom still didn't go all out for MH6 (Wilds) graphics, so that can be a lesson to Square-Enix in being pragmatic. There is no point in spending big on graphics when the extra spend you make is not resulting in extra sales.
The "graphics high water mark" games are going to be restricted to like a few Western studios going forward who can afford $500 million-$1 billion budgets and 7+ year dev cycles and/or have an expensive movie/IP license attached to them (ie: Marvel/Spider-Man, Harry Potter, Avatar, etc.). Japanese companies like Square-Enix and Capcom were never going to be able to keep pace when the budgets got into that level of spend anyway, Capcom I think already knew this, it may be a bitter pill for Square to swallow (FF no longer being graphics showcases) but it's one they are just going to have to live with.
They need to be initially realistic about sales on other platforms, they have done a piss poor job of building fan bases in those communities so it will take some time for people to come around. But the goal I think should be maybe to sell somewhere between 1.5-2 million copies between PC, Switch 2, and XBox platforms to start with. Keep those expectations realistic, I would want FF7 Remake/Rebirth if possible very early (launch?) for the Switch 2 and try to capitalize on Switch 2's launch momentum. I'm not sure as well how they handle Remake + Rebirth for Switch 2 and XBox, do you release them as two separate games or one combined game (may have to do that to get free of the Sony contract as it would technically be a different game).
Eventually I think what you want is several million extra sales from being multiplat obviously, I think in Japan specifically you would want to claw your way back to selling 1.5 million in Japan at least, FF used to be one of the top franchises in Japan selling almost 4 million in some cases there, to have it collapse to only doing like 400k is embarrassing when IP like Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon still sell tons there. You need the Switch 2 to do that though, hanging onto Sony exclusivity basically killed their entire Japanese market.
|
Naw they just need to focus on the PC market and make ports great. Switch 2 has a user base is 0 and no big third party really wants to make software tailored for the Switch cause as you can imagine it's not fun working on something so old and not able to achieve there vision.
|
Their games are going to be tailored to Switch 2, again maybe you should have put your money where your mouth is and supported these games on the PS5 if you don't like it.
Graphics enthusiasts make a lot of noise as a minority on message forums on the internet, but that doesn't translate to actual sales in the real world where Square-Enix has to pay bills and answer to their business suits (board of directors) and shareholders when big budget games fail to sell. You guys had your chance to support games like Rebirth, and 16, and Forspoken and all of Square's wonderful vision's and you didn't show up. Now there are consequences.
Their "vision" doesn't mean shit if they ain't getting the sales. This is a business, not an afterschool hobby club for people to achieve their vision, lol, fuck their vision.
If Capcom can make a mediocre looking Monster Hunter 6 that is probably going to be on Switch 2, Square will get used to the business reality of making games in 2025, which is only 5-6 Western studios really are going to be getting massive budgets going forward with $300+ million budgets and 7+ year dev cycles, everyone else is gonna have to make due with less. It ain't 1997 or 2002 anymore where Final Fantasy was like the top of the heap for industry production value, those days are over and never coming back.
Last edited by Soundwave - on 20 May 2024
