Square Enix output strategy | Discussion thread.

[ILikeFeet]

I will be honest, I don't think that is the case.... It would mean that Nintendo would not have any control over the IP at all and that goes against the nature of the company.

no it wouldn't. they would have those developers on a for-hire basis and have their contract state that any new characters are owned by Nintendo. the developer won't have leverage here

The only reason I think Square would be brought in is if they are making a direct sequel to SMRPG and need to license those characters again.

However, I think perhaps the more likely option is they look ta the success of the remake and do a new game in its style but separate from Square.

are Geno and Mallow really that important? cause they been getting by for decades without them

 

[duvjones]

they would have those developers on a for-hire basis and have their contract state that any new characters are owned by Nintendo

Yeah, that seems a lot more normal. Also doing things for-hire is a pretty normal state of affairs in Japan, as I said... as of late, SE needs the money.

 

[Terrell]

Yeah, that seems a lot more normal. Also doing things for-hire is a pretty normal state of affairs in Japan, as I said... as of late, SE needs the money.

SQE may need the money, but Nintendo doesn't need their continued association to SMRPG, is the thing. While Paper Mario could get a bit too twee at times with its storytelling in ways SMRPG did not, it tells me that a writer for a Mario RPG isn't going to require SQE, and at that point, Nintendo could hire anyone better suited to assisting with remaining skillsets.
Additionally, SQE also does not have an excess of development talent to provide to Nintendo anyways, they've been saying they've got a bit of a talent deficit for their existing projects dating back to before the pandemic, even.

 

[duvjones]

SQE may need the money, but Nintendo doesn't need their continued association to SMRPG, is the thing.

On that, we are in agreement. It is why I would not expect anything of an collaboration after this remake. Nintendo really doesn't need any of the skillsets that SE (as a company) has to offer. Either Nintendo can do it on it's own (and has for years now) or happens to have contact to folks that will give it priority.
SE is very much inconsequential.

SQE also does not have an excess of development talent to provide to Nintendo anyways, they've been saying they've got a bit of a talent deficit for their existing projects dating back to before the pandemic, even.

Yet another problem with no easy fixes, one that requires spending control and spending wisely.
The thing that has always bugged me with SE, at times.... it looks like it has something (Bravely Defualt, Octopath Traveler, etc.) or someone of talent shows up (Yoshi-P, Asano), and some how SE has a way of squandering it's gifts. And for what? Beautiful vista's?

 

[Mekanos]

are Geno and Mallow really that important? cause they been getting by for decades without them

Not really tbh, which was kind of my point. Nintendo doesn't "need" Square.

 

[Lake]

Foamstars just got a global server merge, just a month after release. People were complaining of astronomical matchmaking times due to the lack of players.

I wonder when the shutdown is going to happen, at this rate.

 

[Terrell]

On that, we are in agreement. It is why I would not expect anything of an collaboration after this remake. Nintendo really doesn't need any of the skillsets that SE (as a company) has to offer. Either Nintendo can do it on it's own (and has for years now) or happens to have contact to folks that will give it priority.
SE is very much inconsequential.


Yet another problem with no easy fixes, one that requires spending control and spending wisely.
The thing that has always bugged me with SE, at times.... it looks like it has something (Bravely Defualt, Octopath Traveler, etc.) or someone of talent shows up (Yoshi-P, Asano), and some how SE has a way of squandering it's gifts. And for what? Beautiful vista's?

Well and, to be clear, for several years, they had been operating on highly-bespoke tools that got very minimal utilization across their lineup, which undoubtedly limits profit-making. And that is still at least partly true. Of the internal teams, you had 2 teams at CBU1 working with Unreal Engine (FFVIIR, KH) for a mere 5 or 6 years, 1 team operating mostly with contractors on a custom variation of UE4 (Asano's HD-2D works), CBU3 working with a custom engine that's effectively been forked and heavily revised from Luminous Engine twice (FFXIV and FFXVI)... it's a bit of a mess.
Meanwhile, with Capcom phasing out MT Framework for internal development, all of their projects are on RE Engine (and many will begin to move to the major revision that REX represents). That is a lot of quality re-use of tech work, making it far easier to do skill transfers across teams and skill sharing org-wide, which saves them money and time.
Capcom is the gold standard for this among 3rd-party publishers, but they aren't the only ones who use their technology and the accumulated skillsets more wisely like that. And you can definitely see of the 3rd-party publishers, the ones with the most worrisome financial struggles are the ones who do not leverage the kind of activity Capcom demonstrates. Even the bulk majority of Bandai Namco's internal work is done on Unreal Engine now (if only because it's easier to skill-share with outside studios when they become involved in development, as is the case with Tekken 8, and it meant Bandai Namco didn't have to invest in internal technology as much). Square Enix and Sega are notorious for games internally developed with wide variations of tools for much longer than their competitors, and they're the ones with the lowest financial performance of the big 5 in Japan; I don't consider that a coincidence.

 

[Turin]

I was thinking, if a hypothetical case happens where Rebirth's sales are weak and they are unable to break even, would it be possible that S-E's extrategy would release their financial reports, comment on the problem and reassure everyone with an announcement involving a focused presentation in DQ III and DQ XII with release dates.

I don't think that's the case, but it has some basis since it didn't have any PR.

 

[Damage2]

I was thinking, if a hypothetical case happens where Rebirth's sales are weak and they are unable to break even, would it be possible that S-E's extrategy would release their financial reports, comment on the problem and reassure everyone with an announcement involving a focused presentation in DQ III and DQ XII with release dates.

I don't think that's the case, but it has some basis since it didn't have any PR.

What DQ have to do with it lol

The next SE game its probably KH4 and its one the most chances of doing really well

 

[duvjones]

Meanwhile, with Capcom phasing out MT Framework for internal development, all of their projects are on RE Engine (and many will begin to move to the major revision that REX represents). That is a lot of quality re-use of tech work, making it far easier to do skill transfers across teams and skill sharing org-wide, which saves them money and time.

Fair enough but I would hazard a guess that is out of necessity, since Capcom itself isn't immune to wildly out of scope budgeting.
To be honest, I think that the issue that inflict SE, SIE, Capcom etc. are largely similar.... because at it's core all of them are fighting for the same attention from the same consumer base. A base that has been shrinking for years.
The issue isn't technology, because (taking Capcom as the example) the years spent building product in UE4 clearly wasn't wasted based on the product that they have on RE Engine. The issue is that even with the technology to move forward, none of them are (tho, Capcom seems to be beginning to).

Capcom is the gold standard for this among 3rd-party publishers, but they aren't the only ones who use their technology and the accumulated skillsets more wisely like that.

I don't seem them as that because honestly, it's taken a lot for Capcom to get at the level it is. I thing that they are still stuck playing to the same fan bases that they always had and grouth will be fickle.

 

[ILikeFeet]

What DQ have to do with it lol

The next SE game its probably KH4 and its one the most chances of doing really well

because DQ3 will be out before KH4 or DQ12 and we have no idea when KH4 (or DQ12) is releasing. talking about the next major game to reassure stockholders is expected

 

[Terrell]

Fair enough but I would hazard a guess that is out of necessity, since Capcom itself isn't immune to wildly out of scope budgeting.
To be honest, I think that the issue that inflict SE, SIE, Capcom etc. are largely similar.... because at it's core all of them are fighting for the same attention from the same consumer base. A base that has been shrinking for years.
The issue isn't technology, because (taking Capcom as the example) the years spent building product in UE4 clearly wasn't wasted based on the product that they have on RE Engine. The issue is that even with the technology to move forward, none of them are (tho, Capcom seems to be beginning to).

I don't seem them as that because honestly, it's taken a lot for Capcom to get at the level it is. I thing that they are still stuck playing to the same fan bases that they always had and grouth will be fickle.

I can’t really say they’re budgeting out of scope when their R&D has been mostly consistent (if not pretty flat) across the past decade (with a recent spike from a need to update RE Engine that will serve them for the next 10 years) and when their operating income margin (percentage of revenue that was converted to profit after expenses, basically) is the highest I have seen in the entire industry. Their last FY showed something around 40% for their entire business and 54.5% for just their video game division, bonkers numbers. Meanwhile, Square Enix are floating in the 15% range and the 20% range for the digital entertainment division on the same metric.

 

[Joseki]

Looks like FFXVI is going full multiplatform after the PC port

Final Fantasy XVI Producer Teases Xbox Port

We recently interviewed Final Fantasy XVI staff at PAX East 2024, namely producer Naoki Yoshida and DLC director Takeo Kujiraoka, where the idea of an Xbox port was indirectly teased.

noisypixel.net

So, is it tough for you and the team to say goodbye to all these characters in this DLC?

It’s not over in the sense that we have the PC version. Once the PC version is released, we’re thinking about hopefully moving to other platforms as well. However, that’s not really talking about the story; it’s more about moving it onto different platforms. So, there is a sense that while the project is still going, there is not that sense of being sad and having to leave them yet. But I’m pretty sure that once everything is released and we’ve moved on to the next project, that would be the time where it kind of hits us that, “Oh, it’s really it’s over?”

 

[BoktaiFan]

Are they trying to get gamepass money? I can't see much interest in xbox if they are 3rd in line after PC with a year's old port.

Maybe switch 2 if they can port it. That could be worthwhile if they actually support the platform with their AAA games consistently

 

[fiendcode]

They should give FFXV a new round of ports too honestly (PS5, XBSX/S, Drake).

 

[GoldenFingers]

They should give FFXV a new round of ports too honestly (PS5, XBSX/S, Drake).

Yeah, I think we'll be seeing a variety of ports during the Switch 2 generation. Backwards compatability mitigates a lot of potential for PS5 and Xbox, but Switch 2 is likely going to be large enough of a market to justify FF13 and FF15 updates.

 

[fiendcode]

Yeah, I think we'll be seeing a variety of ports during the Switch 2 generation. Backwards compatability mitigates a lot of potential for PS5 and Xbox, but Switch 2 is likely going to be large enough of a market to justify FF13 and FF15 updates.

I think XV would benefit from native PS5/XBSXS too really. Another bite at the apple never hurts and even if Switch 2 leads sales they could share promo and save costs.

XIII is a mystery to me why it didn't already happen years ago on PS4/XBO/Switch. The whole trilogy really, it's weird how SE pulled a lot of their PS360 stuff for current gen remasters or remakes (KH1-2 HD, Last Remnant, SO4, NieR Replicant, etc) but not their main series here.

In terms of Switch 2 specifically, I wonder most about FFXIV though. Yoshi-P had said years ago they wanted it on Switch 1 but Nintendo regulations got in the way (which sounds insane btw and I don't believe it for a second).

 

[LoneRanger]

I think XV would benefit from native PS5/XBSXS too really. Another bite at the apple never hurts and even if Switch 2 leads sales they could share promo and save costs.

XIII is a mystery to me why it didn't already happen years ago on PS4/XBO/Switch. The whole trilogy really, it's weird how SE pulled a lot of their PS360 stuff for current gen remasters or remakes (KH1-2 HD, Last Remnant, SO4, NieR Replicant, etc) but not their main series here.

In terms of Switch 2 specifically, I wonder most about FFXIV though. Yoshi-P had said years ago they wanted it on Switch 1 but Nintendo regulations got in the way (which sounds insane btw and I don't believe it for a second).

Wouldn’t be strange somewhere in 2025 they make a triple announcement in a Direct of FFXIV, XV and XVI coming to Switch 2 by 2026.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Looks like FFXVI is going full multiplatform after the PC port

Final Fantasy XVI Producer Teases Xbox Port

We recently interviewed Final Fantasy XVI staff at PAX East 2024, namely producer Naoki Yoshida and DLC director Takeo Kujiraoka, where the idea of an Xbox port was indirectly teased.

noisypixel.net

why not have everything prepped to launch at once? weird lack of foresight, methinks

 

[unkindlynice]

Wouldn’t be strange somewhere in 2025 they make a triple announcement in a Direct of FFXIV, XV and XVI coming to Switch 2 by 2026.

If I was SE I would have 14 at launch with 16 either end of 2025/6 depending on when the Switch 2 actually launches. 15 sure but I think it’ll have a more limited market and so move that out to focus on a potential new user base to grow 14 and sell 16 at full whack.

But it’s SE so they might just do SoP for whatever reasoning directs their usually muddled thinking.

Dragon Quest timing probably a factor as well.

Post automatically merged: Mar 25, 2024

why not have everything prepped to launch at once? weird lack of foresight, methinks

Devs are very limited in how they word things due to Switch 2 not yet being officially announced. It might already be on their roadmap and some form of a port in development.

 

[Joseki]

why not have everything prepped to launch at once? weird lack of foresight, methinks

That would require good decision making and a decent level of competence, not something I normally associate Square Enix with.

 

[GoldenFingers]

I think XV would benefit from native PS5/XBSXS too really. Another bite at the apple never hurts and even if Switch 2 leads sales they could share promo and save costs.

XIII is a mystery to me why it didn't already happen years ago on PS4/XBO/Switch. The whole trilogy really, it's weird how SE pulled a lot of their PS360 stuff for current gen remasters or remakes (KH1-2 HD, Last Remnant, SO4, NieR Replicant, etc) but not their main series here.

In terms of Switch 2 specifically, I wonder most about FFXIV though. Yoshi-P had said years ago they wanted it on Switch 1 but Nintendo regulations got in the way (which sounds insane btw and I don't believe it for a second).

I think that Switch 1 was a huge problem for FF13. Nobody expected it to be a full 8 year cycle on a mobile chip, and the game is prohibitively large file size and would have been an lot of work to back port a generation. Switch 2 is going to be a tiny fraction of the cost to port.

Companies are hesitant to triple-gen support which is the current state of Switch 1. Given the state of PS4 still being normal for JRPGs I think Switch 2 is going to have a strong first few years of parity and ports.

Once a game is in the 10M range and holds up to modern standards, it isn't hard for a port to sell a few hundred thousand and recover costs and turn a good profit. Nier 2 and Persona 5 on Switch are probably extremely encouraging results that are going to motivate both companies to be aggressive with porting older games like those.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I think that Switch 1 was a huge problem for FF13. Nobody expected it to be a full 8 year cycle on a mobile chip, and the game is prohibitively large file size and would have been an lot of work to back port a generation. Switch 2 is going to be a tiny fraction of the cost to port.

isn't the game large because of the FMV? it's still a 360/PS3 game at heart, the asset sizes aren't that big otherwise

 

[Aostia82]

for SE and FF brand I'd say that

- GamePass on Xbox
- Switch 2 (if it can handle it)


could actually benefit the software house AND the game/brand

if the Switch2 can't handle it, let at least port the first one, imho: this would still play a role in helping the brand awereness

 

[GoldenFingers]

isn't the game large because of the FMV? it's still a 360/PS3 game at heart, the asset sizes aren't that big otherwise

Yeah, and there's no real way to escape the FMV size. Assets and models scale down but 1080p video is just big.

 

[Danny]

for SE and FF brand I'd say that

- GamePass on Xbox
- Switch 2 (if it can handle it)


could actually benefit the software house AND the game/brand

if the Switch2 can't handle it, let at least port the first one, imho: this would still play a role in helping the brand awereness

I would be incredibly surprised if they port over XVI to Switch 2. That would be the first time since the SNES era where they would put their new, biggest games on Nintendo platforms.

Yoshi P is probably just teasing their future gamepass port.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Yeah, and there's no real way to escape the FMV size. Assets and models scale down but 1080p video is just big.

depends on what it's encoded in. codecs have gotten way better since the PS3/360

fake edit: looking it up, the video files are 720p and the pc version is 720p and in bink format. and there are JP and EN cutscenes

Concerning The Quality OF FMV Cutscenes :: FINAL FANTASY XIII General Discussions

I decided to make this post to try to clear up any confusion about the quality of the cutscenes in this PC port. The 60GB file size seems to be due to the inclusion of Japanese Language cutscenes. Deleting one of the languages frees up about 20 GBs of space. It seems that a better solution for...

steamcommunity.com

 

[Aostia82]

I would be incredibly surprised if they port over XVI to Switch 2. That would be the first time since the SNES era where they would put their new, biggest games on Nintendo platforms.

Yoshi P is probably just teasing their future gamepass port.

Probably
Still, if the console can handle it they should do, to regain brand awereness in Japan (what you stated about the loooooooong gap since last serious FF effort toward Nintendo is among the reasons the brand weakened in Japan)

 

[GoldenFingers]

Mana started getting previews with no release date announced except for a vague summer. We don't have any dates beyond SaGa on April 25th, which makes me think a Direct or other stream is due soon. DQ3R, SF2R, and FFTR are very likely for this coming FY. The bigger titles or the weird trademark leaks are harder to speculate on.

Star Ocean 2 got a giant patch including new assets and boss fights and a difficulty level. It seems to be standard MO now for SE's development contracts to include post launch support like this. My guess is that Octopath 2 will have some new feature or something in the update that comes with the Xbox port, and that Star Ocean 6 is going to get some meaningful update perhaps along a Switch 2 port.

 

[Danny]

Wondering how well Visions of Mana will sell without Nintendo sales.

 

[GoldenFingers]

SaGa is getting a demo tomorrow that is a different campaign in each version. Switch gets the Witch campaign, Steam gets the Mecha sci-fi campaign, and PS gets the puppet priest guy. File carry over is supported. My guess is you are locked to the starter world or first two for each.

I can imagine the Steam version of FF16 also getting its demo this month, probably released in May. It could really be a stupendous graphical showcase if they do the port right, but it is not in a standard game engine so there is a lot more effort needed than the average Unreal port.

Octopath 2 on Xbox is probably this month based on the SteamDB entries looking like it has been done or in final testing for a while.

SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered got a "we're not announcing anything yet but it will be worth the wait" sort of call out in the most recent series stream.

Other announcements are likely waiting on a directs or streams to announce. This is a relatively large ratio of leaked stuff to actual announced games.

 

[fiendcode]

Another reorg at SE, byebye Creative Business Units.

Exclusive: Square Enix implemented large-scale reorganization, moving from business units to studios, on Apr. 1, according to people familiar with the matter. Expect more younger faces to represent some of well-known game franchises of the company ahead.

 

[ILikeFeet]

With DQ12 seemingly getting delayed internally, I wonder if SE is cooking anything beyond DQ3R.

If they have the code for DQ8, Crisis Core Reunion-ing the game would be a good way to keep up the series. As would ports of 4-7

 

[MysticGon]

Another reorg at SE, byebye Creative Business Units.

I hated that name. It always smacked me as try-hard. You're in the video game industry, everything you do needs creativity, you certainly aren't doing it charity and calling them 'units' just sounds so assembly line.

It's made worse when you release bland sludge like Forspoken and make Final Fantasy into yet another timing based hack n' slash dodge roll action game chasing after From Software and Capcom's success. Where's the creativity in that?

With DQ12 seemingly getting delayed internally, I wonder if SE is cooking anything beyond DQ3R.

If they have the code for DQ8, Crisis Core Reunion-ing the game would be a good way to keep up the series. As would ports of 4-7

It's a crying shame the last game Sugiyama and Toriyama worked on isn't coming together as planned. Enix to me always seemed more reliable than Square. Someone needs to check if Inafune is moonlighting as a freelance consultant after ravaging Level 5.

 

[KarlRemarx]

With DQ12 seemingly getting delayed internally, I wonder if SE is cooking anything beyond DQ3R.

If they have the code for DQ8, Crisis Core Reunion-ing the game would be a good way to keep up the series. As would ports of 4-7

1-8 are all on mobile and thus exist on some form of relatively modern API that should be trivial to port everywhere (and which we already know can be delivered to the Switch). These should have been free wins that could be inserted into Nintendo/Microsoft Directs, State of Plays, SE's own events etc in recent years, but in the logic-free world of SE planning, customers get 1-3 on a single platform and then silence.

 

[Belthazar]

With DQ12 seemingly getting delayed internally, I wonder if SE is cooking anything beyond DQ3R.

If they have the code for DQ8, Crisis Core Reunion-ing the game would be a good way to keep up the series. As would ports of 4-7

4-6 would probably do very well as a package for $60. 7 (the remake) and 8 would also likely do well as even simple standalone ports.

 

[GoldenFingers]

They're almost certainly working on ports or remakes of remasters of multiple Dragon Quest games. They released a major remake of DQ10 a little over a year ago. They are releasing DQ3R soon. Probably a localization of the 10 remake this FY. Have semi-announced 1/2 following 3R. Shit takes time though and ports of games native to weird aspect ratios aren't easy. Ports of stuff outside of the widespread third-party engines are nowhere remotely as easy as some people seem to think. Like, people are off by an order of magnitude in cost here, and difficulty porting stuff from that era is why they bit the bullet to do full remakes in Unity for the Final Fantasy PR games and are likely doing the same for Chrono Trigger.

At this point Square Enix is doing probably the most non-emulation ports of old games of any publisher. But that takes effort and expecting them to do 15 per year instead of like 5-10 is just wildly unreasonable expectations. Most remakes and remasters going forward are going to be extensive overhauls to put the games into Unreal or Unity as much as possible to keep long term maintenance and porting costs down.

 

[KarlRemarx]

They're almost certainly working on ports or remakes of remasters of multiple Dragon Quest games. They released a major remake of DQ10 a little over a year ago. They are releasing DQ3R soon. Probably a localization of the 10 remake this FY. Have semi-announced 1/2 following 3R. Shit takes time though and ports of games native to weird aspect ratios aren't easy. Ports of stuff outside of the widespread third-party engines are nowhere remotely as easy as some people seem to think. Like, people are off by an order of magnitude in cost here, and difficulty porting stuff from that era is why they bit the bullet to do full remakes in Unity for the Final Fantasy PR games and are likely doing the same for Chrono Trigger.

At this point Square Enix is doing probably the most non-emulation ports of old games of any publisher. But that takes effort and expecting them to do 15 per year instead of like 5-10 is just wildly unreasonable expectations. Most remakes and remasters going forward are going to be extensive overhauls to put the games into Unreal or Unity as much as possible to keep long term maintenance and porting costs down.

If they've done the work to port 1-3 to Switch, then the most labour intensive work is already complete (getting the framework the mobile games run on operating on the weakest target hardware). There is no good reason, aside from what is becoming typical SE production mismanagement, for rudimentary RPGs to be delivered in a piecemeal bloc of 3 games to only one system, followed by 4 1/2 years of nothing. Whatever is going on internally, it appears completely arbitrary and unaccountable in the real world, which is probably why the series' producer has been shuffled elsewhere.

Nobody is demanding 15 ports per year. They're comparing SE's stated intention of "expanding Dragon Quest in the West" pre-DQXI against their actions to date, and against other publishers that do seem able to walk and chew gum at the same time when it comes to multiplatform strategy and availability of legacy software. SE placing hopes in a delayed international release of DQX (assuming it happens) would be completely irrational, because:

1) It is yet another platform-exclusive release after the previous mainline game's release strategy of "buy a PS4 for this, or actually a 3DS, but also Switch at some point, or Steam because we want to expand in the West, and here's the Switch version now with additional content, ok now here's the Xbox version of the Switch release and also we've replaced the Steam version with the version that adds stuff but looks worse, buy it again with no discount". Why is DQX, which is trivially easy to run and even has a PC client, Switch exclusive? Self-imposed Square-Enix reasons - probably good reasons, since the basis for the game is a Wii MMO, but why should the general consumer care? They're drowning in quality anime/JRPGs.
2) The Switch is in its last year - the sales potential of a late offline port of a 3rd party former Wii MMO is frankly at its lowest possible ebb. It can only succeed on its merits and the current strength of the brand internationally (way below it's hypothetical ceiling), and plenty of great games underperform on hardware that's on its way out.

Much like Monster Hunter and Like a Dragon before their breakout games, I believe DQ can reach a way bigger audience than it currently reaches. However, so far SE have squandered the closest they've had to a Monster Hunter World/Yakuza 0 moment with DQXI, and have repeated similar mistakes they've made with their other pillars. It is not "wildly unreasonable" for a general customer to see what is supposedly a 3rd party multiplatform series, take an interest, and go from there to buying other games in the series with minimal friction. Capcom do this with multiple generations of complex 3D action games and as a result have insane long-tail sales, yet SE can't do this with 2D tile-based RPGs that have already been moved onto a modern API through the phone releases.

 

[KtSlime]

The 4-8 ports to smartphone, aren't 2D tile based, with the exception of 8, they are based on the 3/DS ports. The 1-3 ports exist on consoles because they were released along side 11 as part of the same series.

 

[BoktaiFan]

Didn't see this posted but Visions of Mana's director was actually asked about the lack of a switch version in one of the previews

"That's definitely a tricky question to give a direct answer to. For Trials of Mana, the main thing was how we had to consider the future of the series, and how to cultivate a playerbase for future entries in the franchise. When we thought about the next, say, 10 years of the series' future we felt it was paramount to really solidify what we wanted "Mana" to be going forward. Some of those core tenets included a focus on expansive environments, and a richer experience overall. As a direct result, that's what informed the hardware we decided to develop for. That's all we can say specifically, at this moment."

Your standard "Our game is just too impressive for switch"

Visions of Mana Interview: Masaru Oyamada and designing a world touched by the Elemental Spirits | RPG Site

With a new entry in the series finally coming after over 15 years, we had the chance to discuss the series and its future with Mana Series Producer, Masaru Oyamada.

www.rpgsite.net

 

[Vergus]

Didn't see this posted but Visions of Mana's director was actually asked about the lack of a switch version in one of the previews

"That's definitely a tricky question to give a direct answer to. For Trials of Mana, the main thing was how we had to consider the future of the series, and how to cultivate a playerbase for future entries in the franchise. When we thought about the next, say, 10 years of the series' future we felt it was paramount to really solidify what we wanted "Mana" to be going forward. Some of those core tenets included a focus on expansive environments, and a richer experience overall. As a direct result, that's what informed the hardware we decided to develop for. That's all we can say specifically, at this moment."

Your standard "Our game is just too impressive for switch"

Visions of Mana Interview: Masaru Oyamada and designing a world touched by the Elemental Spirits | RPG Site

With a new entry in the series finally coming after over 15 years, we had the chance to discuss the series and its future with Mana Series Producer, Masaru Oyamada.

www.rpgsite.net

The moment you see "tricky to answer" in the response, you know that it just means they don't want to develop for the console. It's "tricky" to sugarcoat the excuses in a way acceptable to their audience. These answers are getting way too one-noted and annoying.

 

[GoldenFingers]

Didn't see this posted but Visions of Mana's director was actually asked about the lack of a switch version in one of the previews

"That's definitely a tricky question to give a direct answer to. For Trials of Mana, the main thing was how we had to consider the future of the series, and how to cultivate a playerbase for future entries in the franchise. When we thought about the next, say, 10 years of the series' future we felt it was paramount to really solidify what we wanted "Mana" to be going forward. Some of those core tenets included a focus on expansive environments, and a richer experience overall. As a direct result, that's what informed the hardware we decided to develop for. That's all we can say specifically, at this moment."

Your standard "Our game is just too impressive for switch"

Visions of Mana Interview: Masaru Oyamada and designing a world touched by the Elemental Spirits | RPG Site

With a new entry in the series finally coming after over 15 years, we had the chance to discuss the series and its future with Mana Series Producer, Masaru Oyamada.

www.rpgsite.net

All of these answers feel like bullshit by leaving out "we signed an NDA as part of getting information or dev kits for Switch 2 so we contractually cannot address your question directly".

 

[Joseki]

For Trials of Mana, the main thing was how we had to consider the future of the series, and how to cultivate a playerbase for future entries in the franchise. When we thought about the next, say, 10 years of the series' future we felt it was paramount to really solidify what we wanted "Mana" to be going forward.

Basically they wanted to turn Mana into an IP for "big boy consoles" and releasing a Nintendo Switch version would have made the game appear less premium.

 

[BTB123]

Stupid clownshow. These idiotic answers by moronic directors and producers will never stop. He's literally saying that games with expansive environments and a rich experience can't be made for Switch. It's like they've all gone mad.

And then the interviewer's response:
"That makes sense."

Absolutely brilliant!

 

[MechaJackie]

Is it really even a video-game if it can run o the Switch? Can't be out here releasing sub4k games, westerners can't even perceive a resolution that low. 10 years from now people won't take this franchise seriously if it doesn't use at the time cutting edge graphics.
Don't worry tho they are very worried about expanding their audience and cultivating playerbases, so this is getting released on Xbox, but don't create expectations about any other Mana titles on the platform tho, who knows what will happen in the future .

 

[BoktaiFan]

All of these answers full like bullshit by leaving out "we signed an NDA as part of getting information or dev kits for Switch 2 so we contractually cannot address your question directly".

And yet the secret of Mana remake never made it onto switch. Neither did the last Itadaki street game even though those were games released after the switch launch.

I wouldn't count the chickens before they hatch.

 

[Tokuiten]

Didn't see this posted but Visions of Mana's director was actually asked about the lack of a switch version in one of the previews

"That's definitely a tricky question to give a direct answer to. For Trials of Mana, the main thing was how we had to consider the future of the series, and how to cultivate a playerbase for future entries in the franchise. When we thought about the next, say, 10 years of the series' future we felt it was paramount to really solidify what we wanted "Mana" to be going forward. Some of those core tenets included a focus on expansive environments, and a richer experience overall. As a direct result, that's what informed the hardware we decided to develop for. That's all we can say specifically, at this moment."

Your standard "Our game is just too impressive for switch"

Visions of Mana Interview: Masaru Oyamada and designing a world touched by the Elemental Spirits | RPG Site

With a new entry in the series finally coming after over 15 years, we had the chance to discuss the series and its future with Mana Series Producer, Masaru Oyamada.

www.rpgsite.net

Answers like this make me think the recent DQ overhaul really was an internal power struggle about whether to put DQ12 on Switch 2 or not, and I guess we now know which side won.

That's me being silly, ofc. Unless DQ12 is announced exclusively for non-Switch 1/2 platforms ...

 

[Aostia82]

Just wait for Mana to discover how it's techincally even superior to GTAVI before judge their decisions!

/s

 

[MechaJackie]

Only with the power of the PS4 can they deliver expansive environments and richer experiences.

 

[MysticGon]

Only with the power of the PS4 can they deliver expansive environments and richer experiences.

I understand the exasperation with the comment but the PS4 is a damn sight more capable than Switch.

You can make a lot of cuts to get it running acceptably on Switch. It's not a toaster. So to me this comment is basically code for "we like what anime games, Capcom and Sony 1st parties have" which is the ability to not rely on Japan as your path to success. But also having it in Xbox opens the door to some Game Pass money. Why this approach has to exclude Switch?