Last month, one of the core creators of Sonic the Hedgehog and the ex-head of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, took to Twitter in a surprise move, discussing the many problems with Naka’s most recent console release and placing much of the blame squarely on Square Enix. The publisher has now …
Read More »Square Enix planning Final Fantasy XIV UI overhaul to stop players turning to mods
While addons and UI mods are generally accepted in other MMOs like World of Warcraft or The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV has always taken a strong stance against modding the game. Still, there are some raiding groups that still use them in an effort to be amongst the …
Read More »Square Enix lost money on Outriders, latest figures suggest
Square Enix has not had a great year so far. After selling off a large part of the company for a relatively low price and the bad blood between the publisher and Balan Wonderworld creator Yuji Naka, it has now been revealed that one of the biggest Square games from …
Read More »Industry insider suggests Square Enix might be acquired by Sony
Video game companies are engaging in acquisitions left and right, with the most recent news being that Embracer Group will be acquiring a majority of the Western side of Square Enix. Now the focus has shifted to Square's Japanese side, with rumours suggesting that the publisher may be acquired by …
Read More »Marvel Games reportedly lost Square Enix $200 million
Avengers Endgame released in 2019 to global fanfare and billions of dollars in profit. Since then, Marvel has partnered with a number of studios in an attempt to replicate this success in video game form. Unfortunately, it seems that for Square Enix, all the Marvel games did was burn $200 …
Read More »Crystal Dynamics will still co-develop Xbox’s Perfect Dark reboot
It has been six months since The Initiative announced that Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers studio, Crystal Dynamics, would also be a development partner on Xbox's Perfect Dark reboot. Now, Crystal Dynamics is splitting off from Square Enix, having been sold to Embracer Group, along with the Tomb Raider IP. …
Read More »Square Enix is keeping a handful of western IP, including Life is Strange and Just Cause
Square Enix is making headlines this week after selling off a good chunk of its western development studios and valuable IP, like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex. The Japanese publisher isn't pulling out of western games entirely though. From what we know so far, Square Enix will be holding on …
Read More »Square Enix sells off western studios, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and other IP for $300 million
It has been just over a year since we first learned that Square Enix was shopping itself around and looking to sell. As it turns out, Square Enix will be sticking around, but the Japanese publisher is essentially pulling out of western game development for now, selling off its major studios and IP, like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex.
Read More »Yuji Naka blames Square Enix for ‘unfinished’ Balan Wonderworld
Yuji Naka is one of the more well known names in gaming, being the lead programmer for the original Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as previously heading up the entire Sonic Team studio. Unfortunately, Mr. Naka’s most recent console release – Balan Wonderworld – received mixed-to-negative reviews across the board. …
Read More »Final Fantasy 16 is in ‘the final stages’ of development
We're expecting Final Fantasy 16 release date news any day now as part of Square Enix's on-going Final Fantasy 35th anniversary celebrations. We should be seeing more of the game within the next few months, as development is in “the final stages”. Currently, Square Enix has a clothing line collaboration …
Read More »Marvel’s Avengers is dropping all roadmaps
Square Enix has struggled to maintain an active playerbase for their costly and long-developed live service title ‘Marvel’s Avengers’. In the wake of the announcement that Jane Foster is the next Avenger coming to the game, it was revealed that development on future content for the game is being scaled …
Read More »Square Enix is doubling down on Blockchain games
Crypto, NFTs and Blockchain have invaded all aspects of the video games industry, with developers and publishers either announcing their support for or opposition towards the inclusion of such technologies in gaming. Square Enix has previously announced their support of blockchain and are now doubling down on this. In a …
Read More »Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer hints at Star Wars crossover
Last week, Square Enix officially announced Kingdom Hearts 4, complete with a teaser trailer that may have revealed more than we initially noticed. Following the trailer's release, eagle-eyed fans have been combing through for easter eggs and so far, it looks like a Star Wars cameo has been uncovered. Throughout …
Read More »Babylon’s Fall drops to single-digit concurrent players as struggles continue
PlatinumGames’ big step into the ‘live service’ genre fell flat at release, with the game appearing to flop on PC and garnering negative reviews for its microtransactions. While Platinum has confirmed plans to continue supporting the game, the project is facing an uphill battle, as player counts have dropped even …
Read More »Kingdom Hearts 4 is being developed with Unreal Engine 5
Over the weekend as part of the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary celebration, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts 4, promising a new adventure with Sora and some returning characters. While the trailer looked good, it was entirely cinematic, as the game is still in the early stages of development. During the …
Read More »Kingdom Hearts 4 has been announced
In a surprise announcement this weekend, Square Enix has officially revealed Kingdom Hearts 4. The new entry to the mainline series will see Sora return in an “epic new storyline titled the ‘Lost Master Arc'. The announcement was made as part of the grand finale for the Kingdom Hearts 20th …
Read More »Guardians of the Galaxy appears to be doing well after Game Pass debut
Despite a positive reception at launch, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ‘undershot' sales expectations. Things have been improving this year though, thanks to continued sales and more recently, the game's inclusion to the Xbox Game Pass library. Square Enix confirmed that the game didn't meet sales expectations earlier this year, …
Read More »The next Tomb Raider game is in the works, and it’ll use Unreal Engine 5
Over the course of 2021, there were several indications that Crystal Dynamics has begun pre-production on the next major Tomb Raider game. Today, the studio has officially confirmed this, announcing that a new Tomb Raider game is in development using Unreal Engine 5. A few studios have revealed plans to …
Read More »It cost an estimated $10 million to bring Guardians of the Galaxy to Xbox Game Pass
Six months on from launch, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy came to Xbox Game Pass for PC and console in March. We are often left wondering just how much money Microsoft spends licensing some of these bigger titles. According to one analyst, it seems Microsoft has paid Square Enix somewhere …
Read More »The next Marvel’s Avengers hero will reportedly be an ‘echo character’
Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers has had a tough start, with the late 2020 live-service title struggling to get its promised content out of the door. Things have stabilised somewhat, but even so, it seems as though the next Avenger to come to the game will be an echo character. Industry …
Read More »Platinum has ‘no plans’ to stop Babylon’s Fall development after disappointing launch
PlatinumGames' big step into the ‘live service' genre fell flat at release, with the game appearing to flop on PC and garnering negative reviews for its microtransactions. Despite this, Platinum intends to see things through, saying there are “no plans” to reduce development on the game or cancel upcoming content …
Read More »Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin launches with major PC issues
Square Enix ran into some controversy last year, not just due to the sky-high price of Final Fantasy VII Remake on PC, but also due to the PC version’s quality. The game launched with numerous issues and performance problems. Now, the publisher’s latest PC Final Fantasy release, Stranger of Paradise: …
Read More »Valkyrie Elysium coming to PlayStation and PC this year
For months now, we've heard rumours that Square Enix is looking to revive some of its classic JRPG series as part of an on-going partnership with PlayStation. Last night during a State of Play stream, a new Square Enix RPG was announced – Valkyrie Elysium, which is set to be …
Read More »5500 classic Square Enix songs officially added to YouTube
The music industry is notorious for having rather harsh copyright laws with a recent example seeing Nintendo forcefully remove over 1000 songs from YouTube. Fortunately not every company takes this approach, as Square Enix has now uploaded over 5000 songs to YouTube for all to enjoy for free. In late …
Read More »Square Enix has delayed Forspoken until late 2022
While Square Enix has insisted that Forspoken is releasing in May this year, rough gameplay previews have shown that the game likely needs more time in development. As it turns out, the development team agrees, and as a result, the game has been delayed until Q4 2022. Forspoken is being …
Read More »Babylon’s Fall flops on PC, branded a ‘cash grab’ by Steam reviews
After several delays, PlatinumGames and Square Enix officially launched Babylon's Fall today – Platinum's first attempt at a live-service style game. Unfortunately, the game appears to be a flop on PC, with launch player numbers barely scraping past 1,000 concurrents. There has been some concern for Babylon's Fall for a …
Read More »Guardians of the Galaxy, Final Fantasy and more head to Xbox Game Pass this month
We've officially made it through to March and right on time, Microsoft has revealed the next batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC, consoles and cloud. In a surprise move, we have a pretty major headliner for this month – Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel's Guardians …
Read More »NieR: Automata is getting an anime
NieR: Automata just celebrated its 5th anniversary, and as part of this, Square Enix held a number of NieR-related announcements. Alongside the fact that the upcoming Babylon’s Fall will be getting NieR: Automata content, a whole NieR: Automata anime has now been announced. Though there is very little information available …
Read More »Square Enix wants to remake classic SNES JRPGs with HD-2D graphics
Square Enix has a long history of classic JRPGs, going far beyond the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises we continue to play today. In recent years, the publisher has been experimenting with HD-2D titles like Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy. Soon, we should see more remakes and remasters from …
Read More »Final Fantasy 14’s free trial is finally returning
Back in December, Final Fantasy XIV soared to new heights with the launch of its Endwalker expansion. The player base grew to unexpectedly high levels, causing Square Enix to temporarily pause sales of the game and lock the game off for new trial accounts. Now a couple of months later, …
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