My theory on FF VS 13 not showing any new development and when we should expect some

[EliteMark]

I'm new to this community, and am sorry if my post sounds noodish. Anyways, I have a theory on why SquareEnix hasn't shown any new development on FF VS 13.

My theory on why SE hasn't shown any developments is because they probably lost a lot of money in the making of FF14, which i believe is a huge chunk because the more people that play it, the more subscriptions they get, and the more subscriptions they get the more profit they make. But that didn't happen because FF14 went down hill and therefore did not make the profit margin SquareEnix was expecting. With the lack of profit from FF14, it lacked the funds for FF VS 13 and that is why we haven't seen any developments since jan. 2011, BECAUSE FF VS 13 didn't get enough funding from FF14, in which it was suppose to.


Regardless, SE probably made some profit (but not enough to fund FF VS 13) because of FF fans (Like myself) wanting to see if it stacked up to FF11/ previous FF games, which it did not (No offence to people who likes ff14). With the profit of what was left from FF13 and the minimal profit ( If any) of what FF14 brought, they could only do so much. ( Thus the last FF VS 13 development was shown, around jan 2011) With FF VS 13 being one of the most anticipated games TBA, they probably didn't want to rush the game and risk another let down. And with many critics saying another mistake like FF14 COULD destroy the FF franchise and make SE market go down. So with there reputation going down and alot of pressure on their shoulders, they could only do one thing, and that i was to listen to their fans, and see what they want. So with that they listened to their fans and decided to make FFXIII-2 and a reboot for FF14, these were chosen because people felt FFXIII could of had more, and FF14 being horribly made.

In the creation of FFXIII-2, they wanted to make some extra profit, and to do that they made ALOT of DLC content for it and just in case there wasn't enough profit, they made the ending to FFXIII-2 "unexpected". The reason for the ending is so that if the game fails to gain the profit they needed, they can always make the final ending to the series DLC and focus using that profit on FF14 reboot instead of using it for both FF14 reboot AND FFXIII-3, and hopefully making FF14 reboot a success thus getting the profit they need in order to continue FF VS 13.

But if FFXIII-2 does deliver and reaches the profit margin they can create FFXIII-3 and have the perfect final ending to the series and not only that but have enough profit to help fund FF14 REBOOT to its fullest potential and with hopes that these 2 games are a hit, they can continue on with FF VS 13 and other future FF games.

With FFXIII-2 being a success, they have enough funding for FF14 reboot to reach its fullest potential, along with enough profit to create FFXIII-3.

With that being said, if FFXIII-3 is successful along with FF14 REBOOT, they will gain more then enough funding for FF VS 13 and maybe other FF games or FF15 (there was a trailer from SE but it was a TECH DEMO) AND most likely regaining there reputation. And i expect the newest development for FF VS 13 to be release 2-7 months after the releases of both FFXIII-3 and FF14 reboot, if FFXIII-3 and FF14 reboot is successful.


I know this is probably wrong or my information is incorrect or that i dont know the whole story from SE but its something i'd like to think since there hasn't been any news on FF VS 13 (except that time when people were saying it was cancelled). And because i really want this game to be out already.

What do you guys think? Is my theory to "Yeah Right, Maybe, NO WAY SE HAS ALOT OF MONEY, You information is wrong, Etc" ? I would also like to hear your theories as well!

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Personally, I just think this is wishful thinking.

Ever since SE started branching out and working on god-knows-how-many projects at once, they started going downhill. Their answer to that? Start taking the piss out of those fans who are still loyal to the franchise by releasing crap after crap, knowing they will buy it simply because it's FF, and pretty much focusing on making as much money as possible, as simply as possible.

So... To fix FFXIV, they go back to XIII and make a couple of spin-offs and a crazy amount of DLC? Again, that's just an attempt at making as much money as possible, as simply as possible.

Now, instead of ploughing ahead with everything and biting off way too much more than they can chew, why couldn't they stick to their initial plan of releasing XIII, Versus XIII and then Agito XIII? Okay, I know Agito became Type-0 and that it has been released, but SE have already sunk a lot of time and money into making Versus, why not finish it off and release it instead of jumping back and making more Lightning XIII titles? All they seem to be doing is focusing on short-term sollutions with complete disregard as to the long-term effects it's having on the company.

Just fucking stick to numbered, and ordered, releases and they'll do so much better.

 

[Busta]

I can see your side making sense. I personally have never played FFXI or FFXIV Online so I can't judge the game overall, but I always said from Day 1 that Online gaming for the FF series would probably not be as big of a success as Square-Enix was hoping for. ANYONE can play offline games, but making a game online only robs those who don't play online from a main installment in the series. Charging an extra monthly fee on top of what you already paid for by purchasing the game is stupid.

I think "yes, Square did take a hit in the profits from FFXIV". However, I'm not sure it's the leading cause in FFXIII: Versus being delayed. I think it's their inability to focus on core games instead of millions of side-projects. They need to cut their staff down to an appropriate size and focus on the main series games and possibly a spin-off here or there, but not many.

 

[Linnaete]

My theory on why SE hasn't shown any developments is because they probably lost a lot of money in the making of FF14, which i believe is a huge chunk because the more people that play it, the more subscriptions they get, and the more subscriptions they get the more profit they make. But that didn't happen because FF14 went down hill and therefore did not make the profit margin SquareEnix was expecting. With the lack of profit from FF14, it lacked the funds for FF VS 13 and that is why we haven't seen any developments since jan. 2011, BECAUSE FF VS 13 didn't get enough funding from FF14, in which it was suppose to.

You're right about the first FFXIV being critically panned. Their rationale was that since FFXI was the most profitable FF game, they could rush out a similar MMO for the PC and PS3, but despite the beta testers' cries that the game was just not ready for release, SE arrogantly thought that the strength of the Final Fantasy name alone was enough to vacuum in enough fee-paying subscribers to get a decent profit from this.

And since FFXIV was panned, they've essentially relocated hundreds of staff to work on A Realm Reborn. It's been established that because of the need to get A Realm Reborn running with the huge numbers of staff needed to man the reboot of FFXIV, it's pushed to the corner other developments, likely causing some future ideas to be left as blueprints, shelved somewhere for now, while some other developments may have been cancelled altogether. I wager the possibility that Versus, while its development probably never entirely stopped as a result of this fiasco, had its development slow down as some of its workforce were relocated to ARR: FFXIV.

It's not about Versus not getting enough funds. That's not how it works for a company the size of Square-Enix. It's just that as a business, they had to recuperate damages caused by FFXIV and start trying to build its profit margin entirely from scratch again amidst this loss. Their refusal to show any Versus lately is to avoid overshadowing Lightning Returns and ARR: FFXIV.

With that being said, if FFXIII-3 is successful along with FF14 REBOOT, they will gain more then enough funding for FF VS 13 and maybe other FF games or FF15 (there was a trailer from SE but it was a TECH DEMO) AND most likely regaining there reputation. And i expect the newest development for FF VS 13 to be release 2-7 months after the releases of both FFXIII-3 and FF14 reboot, if FFXIII-3 and FF14 reboot is successful.

To reiterate, funding's not an issue for Square-Enix. They've already been up to extensive internal testing and development of their next-gen engine (Luminous), hence how they were able to produce that Agni's Philosophy tech demo, and that's been largely unaffected by the FFXIV fiasco.

It's just that as a company, you want to keep your shareholders happy. So their short-term strategy is to go for the most overt ways possible to repair and bloat their profit margins, be it through costume DLCs that virtually give no statistical impact on your party at all, to semi-decent iOS offerings like FF Dimensions despite its bullshit pricing model, to unadulterated crap like Final Fantasy: All the Bravest that offers little to no gameplay at all and just sucks money from devoted fans with the promise of nostalgic sprites.

If there is a need to "fund" Versus and their next-gen enterprises, that would be a Square-Enix in a deep load of shit. But they're still healthy.

Just fucking stick to numbered, and ordered, releases and they'll do so much better.

I'm calling it now: each numbered (offline) FF game from now on will spawn at least one direct sequel or even a trilogy of their own. I mean, given the fact that Square could barely handle this generation, developing for the upcoming one will be even more merciless. They will find it a godsend to have all these assets and frugally do all they can with them. They no longer have the capacity to pull off a PS1 three-consecutive-numbered-games achievement and they certainly won't for next-gen.

I think "yes, Square did take a hit in the profits from FFXIV". However, I'm not sure it's the leading cause in FFXIII: Versus being delayed. I think it's their inability to focus on core games instead of millions of side-projects. They need to cut their staff down to an appropriate size and focus on the main series games and possibly a spin-off here or there, but not many.

Normally their structure of having various teams and studios would theoretically provide a flexible system, I still think it's badly organised and run. Versus is quite plainly, a hapless victim of circumstances. Firstly FFXIII's own problems meant that much of the Versus staff had to come in to help work on it. Now it's FFXIV, which while I don't really know how much of an effect it has had on Versus's own development, I do know that IF FFXIV wasn't so shit the first time, it's likely that we would have seen a coverage focus shift to Versus by now.

 

[Tmoo]

SE is actually getting a lot of profit from mobile games and their shift to being more of a publisher than a developer. IMO they've taken on an almost unbearably huge load of projects (LRIII, XIV:ARR, VSXIII as far as AAA titles go, and who knows how many other yet-unknown projects are in the works), and with the cost and time investment of making a high profile title so high this generation, they need other steady sources of income. I'd almost venture that the FF series is more of an exercise in maintaining their image and iconic status than it is their primary source of revenue.