LuckyBancho data shows that FF14 is in decline

[ZephyrMenodora]

I would argue that people complain because they don't want it to fail.

I think normal sane people complain for this reason. There are a select few who made XIV complaints a hobby it would seem tho.

[CNitsah]

Games don't need to financially fail to suck. The game's defense force jumps to that in the same way that devs jump to "well players are turning in tomes for relics so they must like it". I barely play the game anymore but I pay my sub because a. I want the game to get better and b. I have a house plot I worked really hard to get.

I'd also point out there are lots of ways for the game to generate more revenue without necessarily capturing new players. Implying all revenue is driven by new player subscriptions is inaccurate, even if you spread it across three games.

The SE mmo section had a fall of 22% according to the last SE financial report. Sure this also include FFXI and DQX, but we know FFXIV is the main part of that section. The easy answer would be "because FFXVI", but FFXVI was released on June 22, at the very end of that period, it feels wrong to say it's the reason of that fall.

This follow the same trend we observed in the game. So there is fall of revenue, but its real amplitude will be only be seen when they release the july to september numbers. But I would note it's the time period of 6.4, that acted as an eye opener for a lot of players, and the moment we began to feel that lack of retention. So Even the SE sales seem to support (or at least not contradict) the current narrative.

[Lauront]

Games don't need to financially fail to suck. The game's defense force jumps to that in the same way that devs jump to "well players are turning in tomes for relics so they must like it". I barely play the game anymore but I pay my sub because a. I want the game to get better and b. I have a house plot I worked really hard to get.

I'd also point out there are lots of ways for the game to generate more revenue without necessarily capturing new players. Implying all revenue is driven by new player subscriptions is inaccurate, even if you spread it across three games.

I don't disagree with your points, with the caveat that, aside from encouraging stabler existing player retention, the other way you can increase revenue while subs remain constant is by pushing more reliance on the mogstation.

[DPZ2]

Games don't need to financially fail to suck. ... I barely play the game anymore but I pay my sub because a. I want the game to get better and b. I have a house plot I worked really hard to get.

So, the game sucks, but not enough for the player to think to themselves "Is it really worth a monthly subscription to maintain a house in a video game?" The apparent answer is "Yes. Yes it is."

"Implying all revenue is driven by new player subscriptions" is inaccurate, even if you spread it across three games." is a misunderstanding of the numbers, as net sales incorporate all funds from subscriptions, not just "new players".

The poster chooses to ignore a rational view based on the number of actual subscribers of this game. It destroys the narrative that the game is in decline because ... reasons.

MMORPGs generate more revenue by releasing expansions. These attract both old and new players. It will be interesting to see the revenue generated during FY2025. Those numbers will speak more accurately about whether the game is in a true decline.

[DPZ2]

This follow the same trend we observed in the game. So there is fall of revenue...

The following is from the article quoted:

"This is a 22% year-over-year drop. Sales of Final Fantasy XIV were down year over year, which isn't surprising since this marked the post-Endwalker period, and also a greater return to something closer to pre-pandemic life across the world. Sales in 2020 and 2021 were buoyed both by other industry events, but also the pandemic affecting so many around the world."

Posters emphasize the first sentence and then ignore everything after.

[CNitsah]

The following is from the article quoted:

"This is a 22% year-over-year drop. Sales of Final Fantasy XIV were down year over year, which isn't surprising since this marked the post-Endwalker period, and also a greater return to something closer to pre-pandemic life across the world. Sales in 2020 and 2021 were buoyed both by other industry events, but also the pandemic affecting so many around the world."

Posters emphasize the first sentence and then ignore everything after.

Ho boy, cutting the sentence halfway through to argue when I litterally say in the second part of that sentence "but its real amplitude will be only be seen when they release the july to september numbers". In other words if it stabilize, we can say we only fell to the pre covid number, if it continue, we can probably say there is more to it.

And yes, it follows the trend of seen in the game. Up until It's only during 6.4 that we began to see some kind of loss of player, but it became more felt during the summer, which we have no numbers for.

If you want my opinion on that, I would also note that they conveniently ignore 2022. 2022 achieved to keep the its sales high despite covid lockdown were finished everywhere (I assume the talk in civil years and not Fiscal year because FY 2020 ended in march 2020, the same month the first covid lockdown was stated. Covid sales would not be that much boosted by covid effect. And if they talked about fiscal years, they still ignored 2022 and 2023). So whole "Covid has ended so we lost money" seem slightly fishy to me, to only happen now. It looks like a discourse for shareholders. But that was not the point of my post.

[Turtledeluxe]

So, the game sucks, but not enough for the player to think to themselves "Is it really worth a monthly subscription to maintain a house in a video game?"

The dev team has garnered a lot of good will over time. You're saying because some people feel like the game has been going in a boring direction for a few patches that the only acceptable response is to cancel subscriptions and injure the game revenue? That sounds reductive and nonsensical. My patience is limited obviously but I don't think the solution is to immediately cancel my sub.

"Implying all revenue is driven by new player subscriptions" is inaccurate, even if you spread it across three games." is a misunderstanding of the numbers, as net sales incorporate all funds from subscriptions, not just "new players".

Net revenue for a game isn't just from subscriptions. It also comes from events, merchandise, mogstation (as someone else pointed out) etc. If revenue isn't itemized you can't just say "there's a revenue increase so subs must be healthy", whether you're taking about new or old subs. My point was that people often talk about this or that metric, and it can seem applicable, when it's not even fully informative or even relevant to begin with. To expound.....

MMORPGs generate more revenue by releasing expansions. These attract both old and new players. It will be interesting to see the revenue generated during FY2025. Those numbers will speak more accurately about whether the game is in a true decline.

That isn't the only way they generate revenue. And again, their bottom line and even active subscriber number don't speak to a "healthy" game. Yes, the thread is claiming there is a decline based on achievements and could be false. However *my post* is responding to multiple players who keep implying that the game making money means it's ok and that the game is "healthy" or "good". That may be *your* definition and players arguing with you may have 50 bad arguments to the contrary (i.e. there's no content wahh, achievements, whatever) but what I am saying is that the problems with the game are more innocuous and haven't quite hit the point of "mass unsubbing" if that ever happens at all. To the point about revenue, if the game continues to make money regardless of the content standards and regardless of the type of player that doesn't mean the game is getting inherently better over time.

[Turtledeluxe]

The SE mmo section had a fall of 22% according to the last SE financial report. Sure this also include FFXI and DQX, but we know FFXIV is the main part of that section. The easy answer would be "because FFXVI", but FFXVI was released on June 22, at the very end of that period, it feels wrong to say it's the reason of that fall.

This follow the same trend we observed in the game. So there is fall of revenue, but its real amplitude will be only be see when they release the july to september numbers. But I would note it's the time period of 6.4, that acted as an eye opener for a lot of players, and the moment we began to feel that lack of retention. So Even the SE sales seem to support (or at least not contradict) the current narrative.

Well, exactly. Someone earlier ITT was posting the complete opposite and saying revenue was up vs 2021. While I do think there some external factors driving this such as new game releases, economy, post pandemic workflow changes, etc, it wasn't even true to begin with that revenue is going up.

And to be clear what I mean is, I don't necessarily think this drop in revenue is ALL people criticizing the game and un-subbing. I'm sure some of it is. But future trends will give us more insight-- the performance of DawnTrail for example.

[MonsutaMan]

Also, this is yet another piece of data that showed that the massive influx at the end of Shadowbringers was a fluke. The number of new players dropped sharply again in Endwalker.

All jokes aside, everyone whom is not in denial knew this. XIV was a middle of the road mmo for nearly a decade. WoW players invade, it is the most popular mmo within that week? If XIV was "That guy," it would have been that guy somewhere between the near 10 years it was on the market prior to the WoW invasion.

What I took from this is how these MMO expansions names predict future outcomes......

[Swordsman]

Games don't need to financially fail to suck. The game's defense force jumps to that in the same way that devs jump to "well players are turning in tomes for relics so they must like it". I barely play the game anymore but I pay my sub because a. I want the game to get better and b. I have a house plot I worked really hard to get.

I'd also point out there are lots of ways for the game to generate more revenue without necessarily capturing new players. Implying all revenue is driven by new player subscriptions is inaccurate, even if you spread it across three games.

Yep, that's true. I heard that wow absolutely blew for several expansions but never really "failed." Some games can have very hardcore fanatical players who will continue to keep their favorite games alive, or jaded players will stick around hoping that things get better.