12/05/2007: "Square Enix President: Sequels are Necessary"

RPGFan has posted a summary of a CNET Japan interview with Square Enix president Yoichi Wada. Among the topics discussed are the next-gen consoles, the potential of downloadable content, and Square Enix/Taito's position in Japan's game center business.

Of particular interest to Final Fantasy VII fans, given the Compilation of FFVII as well as fan pressure on the company to release an FFVII remake, is what Wada has to say regarding sequels and remakes of existing games:

Wada disputed his interview partner's suggestion that Square Enix had recently released a lot of sequels and remakes, by saying both sequels to existing IPs and original games were necessary to grow the business. He explained 60% of Square Enix's profits came from existing IPs, whereas 40% were generated by original titles. He also refuted the common held perception that Square Enix was overly dependent on its flagship Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series, saying they accounted for less than 50% of the profit. And while the company was trying to further reduce its dependence on these franchises, he remarked people kept asking about new installments of either series.

Posted by Reeve at 09:53 AM EST

on Wednesday, December 5th, midnightsunpm said

Maybe now people will stop whinning about them 'milking' FFVII, oye I'm tired of hearing that.

on Wednesday, December 5th, Hollandre Grey said

I agree. However, I'm still in suspense over the possibility of an FFVII remake. Either the question wasn't asked, or he didn't answer it. (sigh)

on Friday, December 7th, Reeve said

Well, hate to say this, but some of us will still complain. Thing is, the old Squaresoft never did sequels or remakes of individual Final Fantasy games. Spinoffs (FFT, Chocobo series) and ports with extras (FF Anthology, FF Chronicles)? Sure. But never direct sequels and complete remakes.

There's a passage from the Hironobu Sakaguchi interview in the Dec. issue of Edge that springs to mind. When asked about the FFVII spinoffs, he said that the way they used to make Final Fantasy games, they'd cram as much as they could and then once the game was finished, that was it and they'd move on to the next thing. Square Enix doesn't seem to be following this philosophy. With the newer games, this may not be a problem, but it's contradictory when it comes to the old, "finished" ones like FFVII.

As for remakes... perhaps I'll address that in length at some point in the future. There's already some great, in-depth discussion over the ramifications of a possible FFVII remake in the Forums, if anyone wants to poke around there.

on Friday, December 7th, Leslie Brant said

Oh please, a remake of FF7 may ruin what many of us like about the original. So I say, don't.

on Sunday, December 9th, Sam said

Rather just a remake how about an edition where there is a remake with the option of playing the original. The same graphic, music, and gameplay. So it would be like a two game in one.

on Monday, December 10th, Manda said

I can't stand SquareEnix anymore. I can't stand all the remakes. Wish they'd be old squaresoft.