What On Earth Is Going On At Square Enix?

Screen Critics Shaun looks at the current state of Square Enix's western games, asking if the company is dropping the ball hard?

[UCForce]

Hitman shouldn't be an episodic game in first place.

[Imp0ssibl3]

I thought it worked very well

[P_Bomb]

It wound up working very well. Super rough launch, but as the releases became more regular and content started flowing (3 bonus episodes, tweaks to elusives and quicker fixes), it was something I looked forward to.

Hitman at its core and at its best is just that. Individual maps with self contained stories, targets and replayability. So...episodes in a nutshell.

The kicker is Squeenix is actually making a ton of money. This move didn't need to happen.

[ocelot07]

Even though I bought the season pass when the first episode released. Once the 2nd episode released. I decided to not play the other episodes when they came out. I didn't like that I hate to wait another month or 2 until I could carry on with the game. So I waited until all episodes where out before I played it. Which then made me buying the season pass a little pointless as I could of simply bought it on disc for cheaper.

So yer it didn't work well for me at all.

[arkard]

See I liked the episodes. I love stealth games, but in small doses. So I loved being able to take a break from whatever action game I was playing. Play the new Hitman level, then be ready to go back to whatever else I was playing. If I ever needed a stealth fix, there was either a new elusive contract or community challenges or new level available. So for me it worked well for me and I was happy.

[-Foxtrot]

Exactly

This is their own fault. Hitman was basically used as a guinea pig to see if they could do this on other games. No offence to Hitman but I'm glad it failed as they would have done this to other franchises.

[annoyedgamer]

What a mess. SQ Enix has some of the best IPs anywhere and their releases are excellent. Now 2 of my favorite franchises..Deus Ex and Hitman are shelved. My days of gaming seem to be coming to an end.

[Garethvk]

You have to wonder if it is rising development costs combined with smaller sales returns.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Or how about giving us shit that the fans don't want

[AuraAbjure]

Why are development costs so high when fairly beefy computers are cheap and game engines like UE4 are very inexpensive as well to use??

[Garethvk]

Salaries. Office space costs more, new hardware costs, then you have salaries, benefits and such. Development teams are larger now than they were a decade ago for some AAA games.

[Xenial]

I agree with your statement.

OT: Your avatar on the other hand, no.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Not that I would put sales above making quality games, but whatever they are doing over at Square Enix, apparently it's raking in tons of profits.
http://www.pcaficionado.com...
Now, if they can use some of that money to fix some of their missteps, then everybody wins.

[DillyDilly]

Thankfully it was pirated so that after Square removes the game completely from the digital stores have at it everyone

[Injusticewarrior]

No.
I support this industry that I enjoy, and it's developers by buying my games.

[DillyDilly]

So what happens when you like something but can no longer legally play it ?

[PhoenixUp]

Let that be a lesson for Square Enix to not make their AAA games episodic. They better hope these financial issues don't hamper FFVII's episodic release

[AHall88]

Also a lesson to not take a niche series and give it a AAA budget and expect it to sell 10 million copies. (Hitman: Absolution)
Hopefully we'll see more Hitman eventually, SE already put Deus Ex on ice, let's hope they don't kill another series.

[-Foxtrot]

Hopefully this will change their stance and maybe they'll rework it so the FFVII Remake is one game

[jagstar44]

first deus ex and now this? feels like they pump all their money into final fantasy games that take decades to release.

[DJ]

I was shocked to find out that Square forced Eidos to add game breaking micro transactions to Deus Ex, which ultimately hurt sales. Same thing happened with Hitman. Wasn't an episodic title until the last minute. Even FF XV was released in an unfinished state.

[DJ]

Lesson learned, don't work with EA or Square. Both companies famously sabotage their franchises due to greed and mixed messaging.

[nommers]

So like all large companies then. Gotcha.

[Jalapeno]

Hope it isn't the start of a trend. And hey Final Fantasy XV took forever to come out...don't you think SE has to recoup some of those costs?

[Tetsujin]

I know I'm going to get major flack for this, but FF15 was a big disappointment for me, and outside remasters/remakes I will no longer buy new games from them. Square lost its way back when it changed to Square Enix; when it was Squaresoft I bought their games when I could afford them, and played them until something new drew me away from their games. Now? I see them the same as a lot of other companies - money first, fans second. I thought things would change when Wada stepped down; and sad to say I was wrong.

And before people start arguing/debating "you don't own 15" I own the full game, played both demos (the one that came with Type 0 and Platinum demo), and had more fun on the demos than the full game itself. Hell I'd prefer the beat em up A King's Tale over the regular 15 (I waited until it became a free download); at least it was more fun and interesting.