Is it mismanagement if the reason it’s only on one console at launch is because the devs want to get each game out as soon as possible, only having to focus on one piece of hardware? They also got more money to make the make the games as big as they are due to making that console the playstation and having Sony invest in timed exclusivity? Seems like a win-win to me. Doesn’t stop Sony from having extremely ludicrous metrics in which they expect their games to measure up to though. Which is ultimately why it seems every game they release never meets them.
Sony?
Final Fantasy is owned by Square Enix.
I suspect Sony pays them very little for the timed exclusivity, still that does help.
But the mismanagement I’m referring to is less to do with the platform availability (though that doesn’t help) as it is with Squenixes habit of consistently over-estimating final sales, and thereby overspending on development and scope.
Squenix did it with Tomb Raider, they did it with Deux Ex, and then axed the franchises entirely because they “failed to meet sales projections”. They still sold like hell, but “underperformed” because Squenix had completely bonkers expectations, and thereby also spent way more than warranted.
The marketing budget for Shadow of the Tomb Raider was apparently more than a third of what they paid for development, and even the development cost was questionable.
The exact same pattern is happening with Final Fantasy, where they try to fix waning sales by going bigger and bigger, instead of more efficient and consistent. I hope they wise up before they axe FF, too.
Is it mismanagement if the reason it’s only on one console at launch is because the devs want to get each game out as soon as possible, only having to focus on one piece of hardware?
I mean, yeah? Bad decisions for good reasons are still bad decisions 🤷♂️