We all know how it has felt this past year with Square Enix releasing one social game after another. KINGDOM HEARTS χ[chi] and THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU -Live Remix- were both announced in 2012 along with other social games for poupular Square Enix brands to little fanfare, and while they are sometimes fun like KINGDOM HEARTS Mobile that will be ending in April, many of them have been like FINAL FANTASY ALL THE BRAVEST where in-app purchases are required to unlock premium content to enhance the game experience. There have been waves of criticism from Square Enix fans around the world over the company's sudden social game addiction that seems to be a way to make easy money, but we may be in for a respite soon enough.
Takehiro Ando, one of the producers for Square Enix's mobile/social gaming division, regularly updated a blog a few months ago on Famitsu's website with upcoming social and mobile game developments from the company and today he posted a new update, "Good bye, social games.", which details the rise and fall of social gaming from Square Enix as well as the company's decision to concentrate on high quality games for their hardcore audience. Ando mentions how since the release of Square Enix's first social title, Knights of the Crystal, many of the subsequent titles have been copies and reskins of other social and gashapon games. While social games have brought Square Enix new fans, it has alienated many of their console and handheld gamers which has led to this shift away from social gaming.
Ando ends the blog post stating that Square Enix plans to release internally developed "epic and famous" games throughout the year, which seems to give us hope we might be getting closer to the games we've been waiting for all of these years. Ando seems to be talking about mobile games that are more suited for the hardcore gaming audience, but that does not eliminate the hope of hearing about more non-mobile titles throughout the year.
KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX is coming out next week on the 14th in Japan, and later in the fall for North America and Europe, so perhaps we'll get an announcement for a second KINGDOM HEARTS HD remaster or even a small comment on KINGDOM HEARTS III sometime in the near future? Tell us what you think about Square Enix's shift from social gaming!
