290°

Tomb Raider, Hitman, Sleeping Dogs Sequels Hinted, Games Broke Even

Square Enix mentions that they have rejuvenated and successfuly created new IPs

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gamechup.com
jc485733997d ago

hope it's cheaper to make quality games in the future.

showtimefolks3997d ago

tomb raider doesn't need MP so make a great single player 12-15hrs long

hitman absolution is a great game imo, a sequel could make it even better

I didn't like sleeping dogs as much even though I am a huge open world games fan, but enough people liked it so a sequel could be good

zeal0us3997d ago

I'm pretty sure if Crystal Dynamics had made more single player DLC the game would've sold more copies. Instead they wanted to monetize off MP.

Downside to publishing and making AAA games this big is the more money you put in the project to more units it has to sell in order to make a profit.

xHeavYx3997d ago

I just finished Sleeping Dogs, even though there are some things that could be improved,I had a blast playing it. I like the martial arts approach

kneon3997d ago (Edited 3997d ago )

It certainly didn't need the MP they implemented. It might be the worst I've ever played.

The matchmaking is horribly unbalanced. I've been in a match where the lowest rank enemy player had a higher rank than my entire team combined.

This is the only game I can think of where you can set up a private multiplayer match, play all by yourself and still collect XP, money and trophies.

There are maps with team spawn points with direct line of sight for enemy snipers, I joined a game in progress and died 3 times in a row without even having the chance to move.

Prcko3996d ago

i think it is,developers alrdy said you need less time to develop on new consoles

DivineAssault 3997d ago

But will they be on the Wii U?????

Jek_Porkins3997d ago

Awesome news! I loved Sleeping Dogs and Tomb Raider very much, just finished Sleeping Dogs and it's so underrated! Loved it!

Yi-Long3997d ago (Edited 3997d ago )

..... it's gotten very respectable scores, and most people seem to love it.

Personally, I enjoyed playing through it, but once the (too short) story is over, I was just bored, and it absolutely didn't do the city of Hong Kong justice (I live there at the moment), sadly.

Huge potential for them to make a much bigger and better sequel though. :)

ApolloTheBoss3996d ago

Maybe the sequel can take place in a different country, like true crime was in a different city every game. It doesn't necessarily have to be in Hong Kong, though I'm loving the game right now.

slapsta723997d ago

i agree! haven't played tomb raider yet unfortunately, but sleeping dogs was really fun and definitely deserving of a sequel. i'm kind of surprised that it didn't sell more.

oof463997d ago

@Yi-Long: Underrated saleswise.

SuperSteve3997d ago

Agreed. Sleeping Dogs turned out phenomenal for a game that was cancelled at one point. I really hope they make a sequel for it.

3996d ago
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003997d ago

I want a proper hitman game this time.

ShabbaRanks3997d ago (Edited 3997d ago )

lol the people who disagreed must be newcomers to the hitman franchise. Please stay away, all my favourite franchises are turning into shit and I was so f**king mad when I played Absolution. The intro level started out cool, with all the new and improved gameplay mechanics (except that disguise system), but then as I progressed threw I got more and more frustrated of the linear missions and the average and déjà vu story.

Not that it was a bad stealth game, but it was a bad hitman game. Before Hitman was about hiding in plain sight and stalking you’re target for the cleanest kill, now it’s like any other stealth game and that’s why it sucked balls -_-

Double_O_Revan3997d ago

I love Hitman, but once I got spotted in a disguise for the TENTH time in the OPENING level, I knew something was amis. That system was totally worthless.

urwifeminder3997d ago

Just got sleeping dogs on steam for $13 hd graphics pack looks great I played the 360 demo but not 1080p 60 fps wow, all these multiplats on pc are like hd remakes compared to consoles, will get tomb raider when its cheap hitman is down to $25 deus ex I gave up on the hacking is crap.

cunnilumpkin3997d ago

hitman is $12.49 pc download on amazon man, great game, amazing visuals on the pc

http://www.amazon.com/Hitma...

just picked up tomb raider for $14 on greenman gaming, sale is over on that though :(

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370°

Square Enix Declares $140m Loss Amid Game Pipeline Shakeup

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix has declared a $140m loss based on a shakeup of its internal development pipeline.

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techraptor.net
Furesis5d ago

What are they doing over there? Sounds like they canceled something big. I read a rumor a while back about ff9 remake . Here "Final Fantasy IX has gone through a very challenging development, the game is still in progress but may undergo changes drastic enough that we won't hear about it for a couple of years."
This could be one of the reasons if the rumor is true. That was Silknight i don't know how credible he is but it's something and it would make sense.

-Foxtrot5d ago

I hope IX is still on the cards

Just a straight up remake which they expand a little bit nothing over ambitious

If IX dosent happen then VI and VIII will never be thought of.

Kakashi Hatake5d ago

6 and 8 were way more p popular games despite today's cult following of 9.

blackbeld4d ago

I want my FF8 remake! Can't believe they cancelled it.

TiredGamer5d ago

What are they doing? Sales are falling and the costs are out of control. Big releases need to be absolute sales home runs now, and Final Fantasy sales have stagnated.

Now we know why Square didn’t fall over themselves to remake the original FF7 all these years ago. It certainly wasn’t a license to print money, at least not with what the expectations were. Each of these full on remakes drains an enormous amount of company resources for a razor thin profit margin.

TwoPicklesGood5d ago

Breaking the game up into multiple parts was a mistake IMO.

blackblades5d ago

The loses came from cancelling games nothing else.

Tapani4d ago

They lost the magic in the remakes. And the story is incomplete. The original FF7 is still way better. The Remake / Rebirth are just fan service. Like an Anime/Manga with "optional" filler content. FF7 had pretty much zero filler, it was paced extremely well, and still today flows much better than the grindy story and spongey enemy battles in the remakes.

babadivad4d ago

If they released it at once on all platforms, they would have made all of their money back. Could have been on to an FF8 or 9 remake. Ready to cash in again on nostalgia like Capcom. This is their fault for trying to milk the title.

Once I head they were breaking it up into parts, I lost all interest.

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neutralgamer19924d ago

I hope people understand usually when a loss is declared it means a game which had been in development got cancelled. For example Sony Santa Monica before GOW-PS4 had cancelled a project which Sony had spent 7 figures on

As far as square is concerned they release a bad game once a year. Forspoken anyone?

For those making comments on remake not selling well, I hope y’all realize that Sony is the only reason this remake is happening. If Sony didn’t fund it the remake wouldn’t be happening. Just like Konami didn’t want to remake SH2 because development costs of 100 plus million

shadowT5d ago

Do not miss Final Fantasy 16. Great game!

raWfodog5d ago

I'm waiting for them to release the complete edition bundle, but it's definitely on my list.

PhillyDonJawn5d ago

Wth is going on with the gaming industry?

mandf5d ago

Corporate investors taking everything

TiredGamer5d ago

Not rocket science. Compare sales numbers, development cycles, and budgets to the previous gens. We are all collectively burning up the industry from the inside out. Expectations are ludicrously high now for every release and sales are dropping for even the most prestigious of series.

We used to be satisfied paying $50-60 for a game that took 1/100th the budget and staff to make. Now gamers feel cheated if they have to pay the same for a game that took 100x the budget. We may be reaching the end of the line for this model of gaming.

wiz71915d ago

@tiredgamer I think your point is one that ppl don’t understand and you hit it on the nose .. some gamers don’t want to take accountability but it’s some of the gamers fault the industry is where it’s at .. we as gamers set the standards for the industry not the shareholders , ppl forget that the shareholders and the industry want and need OUR Money. Both the Xbox and PlayStation are seeing a drop in hardware , the industry is very stagnant right now.

Tacoboto5d ago

Speaking to Square:

Turns out their mismanagement wasn't related to the western studios they dumped to Embracer, but their own fault.

With regards to Xbox - a good way to kill your brand is to pull support on high quality titles and only dump B and C-tier titles to it

With regards to PC - Epic Games Story exclusivity for any duration and piss-poor optimization will hurt you.

With regards to FF Pixel Remasters - y'all messed up by barely releasing them on physical, like wtf that was free money!

And lastly, you don't help a franchise by releasing a mainline title that undermines every title that came before it. FFXVI was a DMC-like with bottom-of-the-barrel side quests and I can't imagine that helping Rebirth at all considering its marketing is directly tied to how big that game is.

Tacoboto5d ago

Sony is getting their best titles and with the most polish, so what about it? Nintendo gets their top properties too, for titles that can run on Switch hardware.

It's the other fanbases that get the second- and third-class treatment from Square. If that's due to agreements with Sony, that's not a Sony issue but a Square one for accepting those terms. Sony is doing its best to look out for Sony.

wesnytsfs4d ago

sales and stupid practices like exclusives.

TiredGamer5d ago

The industry implosion is continuing. Sky high budgets, prolonged development windows, stagnant sales numbers, and falling currency values (inflation) are wreaking havoc on the legacy industry. AAA games will slowly become the rarity.

CS75d ago

Sad. Rebirth was one of my favorite games in a long time. Should have sold more.

CrimsonWing695d ago

Oh I’m with you. What’s worse is they can say, “Well we tried to make this amazing game and spend all this money on, but not enough people showed an interest. So no more of these since we can’t take a hit like that.”

The industry is going to take a dramatic shift. Mark my words on this.

rpvenom5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I think there is quite a large portion of individuals like myself who held out on buying it on PS5 because I can get it on PC eventually. To be able to mod the game and also have custom graphical settings to my liking

gold_drake5d ago

same

but im not sure if it matters at all. im sure they made sony pay a hefty sum for the 3parter to come on ps5 exclusively. so watever they made in sales, might have come bk in profits for square, but i dont know
and we dont know what "underperformed" even means for square.

Show all comments (43)
130°

Square & Bandai Namco Being Honest About Quality Is A Step In The Right Direction

Saad from eXputer: "After suffering from massive financial hits, Square Enix & Bandai Namco appear to be turning over a new leaf but I'm still unconvinced."

Nerdmaster6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

I was talking about games with some Japanese guys here in Japan, and it seems like around here Bandai Namco has a fame of making low-quality games, with the occasional gem.

About Square Enix, I believe they lack the capacity to improve. They should learn with Capcom (although even Capcom still makes some bad mistakes), but I don't think they ever will. They keep chasing whatever is new at the time (blockchain, AI...) to say "we innovate", without considering the public perception and if these things actually improve the games or not. Them releasing too many small games with no advertising also shows a lack of trust in its own products. Even with their biggest games, like turning FF into an action game with XVI and the very divisive plot changes regarding whispers and timelines in VII Remake, shows them trying to attract a new generation of gamers without understanding what made the series so big in the first place.

shinoff21836d ago

I want a true ff7 remake. With thatcsaid I'm way happier with 7 remake then I was with ff16. I'd still prefer turn based but square keep chasing these Lil kids

Snookies126d ago

Man, it is perfectly fine to prefer turn based. Turn based is amazing. But there's zero reason to call anyone who likes action games "lil kids". Liking one gameplay system over another does not make you more mature in any way.

VersusDMC6d ago

People love the new FF's overall...the problem is the abundance of 7's they release that lose money or make very little like diofield, star ocean divine force, Valkyrie asylum, harvestella, foam stars, etc. Advertising wouldn't have saved those games. Apparently Forespoken had a big Advertising budget but we saw how that went.

shinoff21836d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Star ocean divine force actually sold well from what I've read not ff type numbers but well enough. Was a dope game to.

FinalFantasyFanatic6d ago

Bandai Namco is going to Bandai Namco, I do believe that Square Enix can't change without changing the entire management, they've had these issues for more than a decade and haven't learnt, I have very little faith they can course correct. I'll still buy their better remasters/remakes like Star Ocean 2 though (not FF7R).

Asterphoenix6d ago

Namco is just milking the same Sword Art Online with lack of budget as well as anime IPs that don't go to decent developers like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. Namco deserves their losses and no future Dot Hack or Xenosaga remaster :(.

Square allocated lot of their budget on Forspoken was a mistake. Square always had management issues. Star Ocean 2 was a great remake and I found their recent entries of FF(16 and Rebirth) better than 13 and 15.
I think they were better than 360/PS3 generation where Square went really downhill.

CrimsonWing696d ago

I don’t know why NOW they decide on this, but I guess later is better than never.

80°

I’m Glad Atlus & SE Changed Dates To Avoid Competing With Shadow Of The Erdtree

Saad from eXputer: "I'm glad I don't have to choose between Square Enix, Atlus, and FromSoftware due to bad release windows and Shadow of the Erdtree."

H912d ago

More intelligent than guerilla games

raWfodog11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Atlus is releasing their game one week before Erdtree, SE is releasing theirs one week after.

HZD released four days before Zelda, HFW released one week before Elden Ring.

It seems to me like they are still releasing their games too close to Erdtree.

VincentVanBro10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

What a word vomit, rambling, turd of an article that simply states the obvious. Classic exputer.