Love it or loathe it, the fact of the matter is that the prosperity of Bravery Default has somehow managed to breathe new life into the JRPG genre for Square Enix. Whom admittedly commented in an interview with IGN that they’d “lost their focus” for the numerous series of overseas RPGs that’re scheduled to land on North American shores. After a record-breaking 200,000+ copies sold, as stated in Siliconera’s review of the retail value of the localized version of Bravery Default earlier this month; its overall success enticed enough intrigue from the team of developers at Square Enix to reevaluate their approach on potential future titles. Figures speak louder then words, it seems. Since the audience of Square Enix’s JRPGs have been excessively requesting further information on elusive titles such as Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III with no response. Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda spoke to Nikkei Trendy in a translated excerpt on Siliconera’s website, on the matter of shuffling the company’s primary focus back to JRPGs as well as their core audiences outside of Japan.
Hitman: Absolution is one of the many titles that ‘flopped’ due to Square Enix’s “create for masses” strategy.
“If you focus too much on the global aspect, you might lose sight of who you’re actually making the game for,” Matsuda commented in his interview. Multiple global games that were developed or published by Square Enix managed to flop on the market due to this impulsive tactic. Which Matsuda expressed in earnest, ” if you look back at 2013, we’ve had some home console games made for a global audience that struggled.” Such as their installment of Hitman: Absolution, just to name one of Square Enix’s declines. In retrospect; the release of Bravery Default in both Europe and North America gave producer Tomoya Asano quite the surprise considering the general reception it received outside of Japan. Disclosing that he did not expect such positive feedback on the late RPG title from various locations, since Bravery Default had been tailored specifically for a Japanese audience.
“Due to having split [the development mindset] according to regions around the world, we weren’t able to see this clearly up until now, but fans of JRPGs are really spread around the world,” concluded Yosuke Matsuda; acknowledging the ‘niche market,’ and presence that those titles can retain over an expanse of time.
Due to Square Enix’s resolution; we can assume that North America and Europe will hear more on JRPG titles such as Final Fantasy XV, which Square Enix expects to turn an ample profit on from its development and distribution.
This hasn’t been the first time that Square Enix has taken an abrupt shift in their company’s philosophy. However, it does seem like one that has been given some genuine thought, focusing on one sole aspect of the game publisher’s priorities in the upcoming year. At the moment, Square Enix is developing new titles in the Final Fantasy, Deus Ex, Hitman and Tomb Raider series. Whether the decision will adhere has yet to be seen; but one thing is for certain: Square Enix cannot debate against a game’s substantial income. In order to survive in the gaming industry, some steps (or revelations in this instance) must be taken to reassure the audience’s cumulative support.
We’d love to hear your uptake on Square Enix’s “reversion to JRPGs” gambit!