FFXIV Is Square Enix's Most Underfunded Title

[mario710]

Despite being the only title keeping Square Enix afloat.

What a disgusting and pathetic company. I sincerely feel that FFXIV is a huge waste of untapped potential.

As much as I despise Activision for the abomination that they turned WoW into, even that pales in comparison to the complete disgust and hatred I harbour for Square Enix. FFXIV is a massive stream of revenue for them and they are the overseers.

FFXIV pays a mandatory 98% tax to Square Enix to continue existing. The developers' toil ceaselessly to create phenomenal content and Square Enix takes their cut right off of the top.

2% of FFXIV's font of revenue is allocated to development resources and developer salaries.

Pathetic.

[Graeham]

Do you have a source? I don't doubt that FFXIV is lacking the funds that it deserves since it's been heavily implied that stuff is being siphoned off to feed other projects...but a source would be useful.

[Kittahsmash]

{{Citation Needed}}

Would literally love for a legitimate source for those numbers, as I've been keeping my eye out for that kind of info for many years now and haven't come across anything.

[Mysterymask]

..FF14 most underfunded? are you fucking shitting me? I mean FF1 was literally "eh let's throw this shit out there and if it fucks up then whatever we're done" vs the LITERAL ONLY MMO that they SHITCANNED, REDID, and SUCCEDED.

[Strychnine]

I'll assume the source is CNN.

[Glormon]

Not even a good troll

[Musta]

dont feed the troll

[Graeham]

To be fair, I don't think it's trolling - the development team themselves have voiced frustration in regards to funding and manpower issues on more than one occasion and have frequently claimed that they cannot add something to the game due to those restraints. I believe FFXV was also funded in large part by FFXIV's success - so it stands to reason that a decent amount of excess profit isn't going back into the game as it arguably should be and is instead going elsewhere.

[Swnem]

If that is indeed the case, they really should stop doing that.

But, i believe that is not the only company that does that as WoW and SWTOR feel the same way. Milked more than their success should allow.

Greed never ceases to amaze.

[TacTican]

To be fair, I don't think it's trolling - the development team themselves have voiced frustration in regards to funding and manpower issues on more than one occasion and have frequently claimed that they cannot add something to the game due to those restraints. I believe FFXV was also funded in large part by FFXIV's success - so it stands to reason that a decent amount of excess profit isn't going back into the game as it arguably should be and is instead going elsewhere.

While all of this may be true, a quick glance at OP's thread creation history ought to put any question of trolling to rest.

[Spiroz]

Despite being the only title keeping Square Enix afloat.

What a disgusting and pathetic company. I sincerely feel that FFXIV is a huge waste of untapped potential.

As much as I despise Activision for the abomination that they turned WoW into, even that pales in comparison to the complete disgust and hatred I harbour for Square Enix. FFXIV is a massive stream of revenue for them and they are the overseers.

FFXIV pays a mandatory 98% tax to Square Enix to continue existing. The developers' toil ceaselessly to create phenomenal content and Square Enix takes their cut right off of the top.

2% of FFXIV's font of revenue is allocated to development resources and developer salaries.

Pathetic.

What does that 2% equate to? Did the developers put any principal cash into the initial investment? What are you complaining about when you honestly dont seem to understand how business works. 2% of say 1 million subs paying $15.00 per month x 12 = roughly 3.6 Million per year (And this is not factoring in any hard copy sales and not knowing how many active subs there actually is this is just a rough estimate)

A business that mindlessly throws money at development and expects that to solve everything will end up falling over. Find out the cutlrual and personel issues and the business will succeed. I really dont understand this post 2% seems fine to me, They were the ones who fronted up the initial cost to create the game so why wouldnt they get the revenue?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

IIRC FFXIV had far more developers working on it fulltime (200-300) than WoW did. Can't call that underfunded.

I guess it depends on what you want out of the game. The team has found a pretty stable content cycle that lets them put out a decent amount of quality content on a regular basis, but if you want something out of that paradigm you are unlikely to get it because 1. it wouldn't fit their pipeline and formulas, and 2. might not be practical to develop within the confines of the game. Remember, these formulas are also here because the game engine, and the restrictions of being an MMO, means that there isn't much leeway the team has for development.

- - - Updated - - -

Though basic things like Hrothgar and Viera still not being able to wear most hats, lack of hairstyles for them, no eyebrows for highlanders, etc, is still pretty frustrating.

[Merie]

The game has a lot of heart, but it definitely feels like it's working miracles well above it's budget class. It seemed like we'd get two dungeons a content patch while now we only seem to get one. Nothing extra that we weren't getting already in previous expansions seemed to pop up in its place either, which felt more like a budget shortfall as a result instead of a redirection of resources elsewhere. I love Shadowbringers but my entire time going through 5.3 felt like it was nearly all reused assets. I really liked the fight with Elidi too but it felt like it really needed a second soundtrack for phase 2 to really get you pumped. Nidhogg got 3 in the x.3 patch in Heavensward. But in any case, I just get the sense they're scraping the bottom of the barrel for funding at this rate.

[tikcol]

They did the best they could with Reborn but the engine of the game is a real problem. The game feels too static in terms of gameplay.

I don't mean rotations in combat, those are pretty fleshed out. I mean combat in general is very stiff and I feel like the current engine does not allow for more

[Katchii]

Despite being the only title keeping Square Enix afloat.

What a disgusting and pathetic company. I sincerely feel that FFXIV is a huge waste of untapped potential.

As much as I despise Activision for the abomination that they turned WoW into, even that pales in comparison to the complete disgust and hatred I harbour for Square Enix. FFXIV is a massive stream of revenue for them and they are the overseers.

FFXIV pays a mandatory 98% tax to Square Enix to continue existing. The developers' toil ceaselessly to create phenomenal content and Square Enix takes their cut right off of the top.

2% of FFXIV's font of revenue is allocated to development resources and developer salaries.

Pathetic.

Source?
/10char

[Itori]

Because fuck games like the highly successful ff7 remake that sold over 5mil copies, and games like the kingdom hearts series still making money today. Ffxiv is indeed successful but to make the claim that its the only thing keeping SE afloat without any proof is silly.

Games like ffxv and world of final fantasy being flops, and ffxiv 1.0 being a shit show didnt help, but they turned it around just fine. Ffxvi with the same director of ffxiv is highly promising. So dont compare SE to activision or EA, thats just disgusting.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

FFXVI isn't being directed by Yoshida. It's being directed by Hiroshi Takai (director of The Last Remnant, assistant director on FFXIV ARR and HW).

Well I guess that's a nitpick but yes Square has other revenue sources than FFXIV

[Mysterymask]

Games like ffxv and world of final fantasy being flops, and ffxiv 1.0 being a shit show didnt help, but they turned it around just fine. Ffxvi with the same director of ffxiv is highly promising. So dont compare SE to activision or EA, thats just disgusting.

Wouldn't call XV a flop..did pretty damned well sales wise World of FF I'd kinda agree with you on

last Square Enix Flop I would actually say was The Avengers..and even then it didn't flop THAT hard

[Itori]

Wouldn't call XV a flop..did pretty damned well sales wise World of FF I'd kinda agree with you on

last Square Enix Flop I would actually say was The Avengers..and even then it didn't flop THAT hard

I personally enjoyed ffxv and its darker story, but i believe the pc port is what people complained about the most. Have yet to play the avengers but havent heard good things.

[Dartz1979]

this is dircted to OP: ummm final fantasy has better features than world of warcraft.. you can foe starters customize your character how you please and also wow doesnt give you a quest for a free racial/custom reroll another thing we have a housing system which is good also we have instant acount wide flying.. one character only needed for all jobs will you see warcraft do things like that oh yea lets not forget the most important of things very good lore and story so much of it im still notc aught up yet.. so yeah lets all be happy please and stay safe and game on with fun during this world wide pandameic we live in.