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Just How Desperate Has Square Enix Become?

Just How Desperate Has Square Enix Become?

I’m not sure I’ve seen any game promoted quite as much as Final Fantasy XV . I mean, beyond merely blanketing traditional and social media, this sucker has a tie-in movie, anime series, several tie-in games on various platforms, and more different versions and pre-order bonuses than I can count. I’m expecting to see Gladio glowering down on me from the side of a bus any day now. It’s obvious that Square Enix needs Prince Noctis and his best bros to sell, sell, sell. After ten years in the making and possibly with the future of the franchise hanging in the balance, does this marketing campaign mean Square Enix is confident in Final Fantasy XV , or just desperate?

Until recently, I would have bet on the side of desperate. Not only has there been this ridiculous mass of companion media, I’m leery of multiple social media campaigns that beg fans to recruit more followers in exchange for a “prize” (hint: it’s never really a prize). There was a chocobo-themed one earlier in the year, and now there’s a moogle-themed one. Neither has produced anything of real note for fans, but it sure has swelled the ranks of Final Fantasy XV ‘s Twitter followers. Were these campaigns really necessary, though? Why couldn’t Final Fantasy XV attract a sufficient number of social media followers on its own by posting awesome game assets and information?

Then there was the Red Dead Redemption 2 image edit. Hot on the heels of the pre-trailer Red Dead tease, the Final Fantasy XV Twitter posted an edited version with silhouettes of the XV cast instead of the original cowboys.  It’d be one thing if it had been a retweet of a fan ‘shop, but this seemed like a direct PR attempt to steal Rockstar’s thunder or at least ride its coattails in order to garner as much attention as possible. Although it was funny, it felt both desperate and a little crass to me.

However, other aspects of the PR campaign make me think Square Enix is becoming increasingly confident in FFXV. We’re finally seeing the cast in a variety of locations, not just the area covered in the old Episode Duscae demo. We’ve had tons of opportunities to see gameplay this summer and fall, even if Square Enix’s own demonstrators are dangerously incompetent at playing the game (seriously, check out streams where journalists or Youtubers are playing instead to see how combat actually should work). At this point, it appears that the only thing Square Enix is hiding from us is storyline spoilers. We can’t be sure if the game goes off the rails near the end (as the series has a well-deserved reputation for doing), but otherwise we’ve got a pretty good idea of what it will be like to play.

Just How Desperate Has Square Enix Become?

Most important here is the fact that a preview build of the game has been released to journalists. Finally, at least some press outlets can see Final Fantasy XV in the wild and know how it actually runs on their machines. They can experience the beginning of the game just as ordinary players will, over a month before release. That doesn’t happen when a company is feeling uncertain about how a title will be received. I always say that if reviews are embargoed until the day of release (or even after!), beware. We have the opposite case here. By releasing these preview builds, Square Enix is cracking open its box and saying, “Hey, tell your readers what you think of the beginning of our game. We’re proud of it.”

I have to admit, seeing footage and hearing impressions of the new Final Fantasy XV build finally has me hyped. The framerate looks smooth, the world is said to be wild and beautiful, the “bros” have solid relationships that are built up from the very start, and the combat contains a wealth of possibilities. Square Enix’s PR might indeed be a bit desperate, but now I feel like it’s a desperation to get the word out about the awesome game their company made rather than one born of fear that it doesn’t deserve success. For fans of this storied franchise, that’s good news, indeed.

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