FFXIV is not a failure, never was.

[Antipika]

Question here is : what are people considering a failure?

A failure for me is when I do not succeed in achieving an objective/a goal.

In that very case, I am pretty certain that SE expected a better start for this title, therefore we can say that the launch of Final Fantasy XIV was a failure. Almost no income at all beside retail sales, how isn't that a failure?

It doesn't mean that the game is trash / should be terminated / will never become better in the future etc.

Launch : Failure
First 6 months : Failure

I am confident that the game will improve, but right now, the game isn't a success. (lack of success is the definition of failure)