"Soon"

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

People should read this report, if you haven't seen it.

There's some interesting statements from wada in there that I found pretty enlightening.

Such as these:

If we look at the FINAL FANTASY series, FINAL FANTASY XI (FFXI) was developed as an MMORPG, and upon recovering server and other expenses, this game generated a total of nearly ¥40 billion in its ten years of operation. With simple calculations, we can divide this figure by 10 years and see that this title generated close to ¥4 billion per year ... After 10 years, FFXI generated nearly ¥40 billion in accumulated earnings and still is the most profitable title in the FF series.

...the unsuccessful launch of FFXIV caused a negative chain of events in other areas across the businesses. One notable example is the significant delay in the development of new HD games titles in Japan.

In summary, we are anticipating a significant rise in MMO in the next fiscal year ... HD games on the other hand, are expected to remain at roughly the same level for the next two years.

To explain this in relation to our three-tier framework, MMO was intended to be our solid foundation, HD games as the stabilizer ... However, MMO earnings still remain ¥0.

What I got out of this is that SE wants MMOs to become the core of the company, and therefore they can not allow FFXI or FFXIV to fail. The revenue from their console games just isn't cutting it these days, and so they need the subscription fees from MMOs. This will allow them to develop more console games which they now view as the "stabilizer". This means they will release console games regularly in order to boost profits. However, because of the nature of console game sales "buy one and done" and because of the amount of time it takes them to develop these games (2-4 years), they can't rely solely on console games for profit anymore.

[Daniolaut]

People should read this report, if you haven't seen it.

There's some interesting statements from wada in there that I found pretty enlightening.

Such as these:

However, MMO earnings still remain ¥0.

That part is very interesting. The intended purpose of this thread was just for a laugh, and I'm ok with discussing the direction SE is going with titles and such I just doubt if we did it would stay a clean thread
/shrug

With that being said I highly anticipate FFXIV:ARR to be successful, but I doubt MMO's in general will be a good market. FFXI did do well but it did so in an era in which deemed fitting. The new turn of events for MMO's is not boding well (with most MMO"s F2P, which is a terrible system, but it is the current trend.)

On the flip side, and focusing on just SE alone, I am very grateful for the turn they have made, and have made a very good connection with its fan base (via the FFXIV, FFXI, and SE forums) In my opinion the best Company/Consumer relationship in the gaming industry.

[Marek]

ff, mmo"s are better then any. Ive played most out there and none come close. KEEP it up SE I know u will REIGN.MAREK ZANTSHA






With that being said I highly anticipate FFXIV:ARR to be successful, but I doubt MMO's in general will be a good market. FFXI did do well but it did so in an era in which deemed fitting. The new turn of events for MMO's is not boding well (with most MMO"s F2P, which is a terrible system, but it is the current trend.)

On the flip side, and focusing on just SE alone, I am very grateful for the turn they have made, and have made a very good connection with its fan base (via the FFXIV, FFXI, and SE forums) In my opinion the best Company/Consumer relationship in the gaming industry.[/QUOTE]