With games such as Final Fantasy Dimensions, as well as Final Fantasy V and IV already on the smartphone and tablet markets and doing well in their new homes, it’s no surprise that Square Enix has moved the majority of their efforts towards smart phone and tablet gaming, while scaling back on resources being allocated towards platform games. Many of their current games on mobile devices are either sporting a relatively high price tag for an app, or free for the first chapter and then charging in-app purchase fees for subsequent chapters, the move to mobile gaming may be the companies best option after the their poor fiscal year which recently ended.
As we mentioned late last week, there seems to be a lot of buzz around the mobile market lately. While recent games by Square Enix have not been well received, such as Final Fantasy XIV, many of the companies changes seem logical, such as drastic changes to their large-scale, long-term projects. With many fond memories of older Square Enix games on consoles, accompanied by some remakes of older games to fit the tablet and smartphone experience, perhaps this move is to combat their recent losses; one can only hope that in the process Square Enix continues remaking their classic hit games while bringing new gems into the market as well.
Realistically, while the price tags seem steep for some game-to-app adaptations, many had no problem paying $10-20 for TellTales Walking Dead point-and-click series, and as more great games make their way into the various app stores, it’s not unusual to expect them to come with a relatively high cost, and some gamers would rather pay $15+ for an amazing game than $1.99 for a plethora of quick-hit games that will ultimately wind up deleted within a couple of weeks.
While Square Enix hasn’t fully exposed its plans for the future, one thing is certain: Their efforts are strongly being steered towards mobile gaming, and there is much excitement to be had over the possibilities of seeing hits such as Final Fantasy VII, or Chrono Trigger-esque games having the potential of being playable in the palm of your hand.
vBulletin Message