Final Fantasy XIV “Greatly Damaged” the Brand, Admits Square CEO

During a Tokyo press conference today, CEO Yoichi Wada told reporters that he believes "the Final Fantasy brand has been greatly damaged."

Before any of you start hoping for a radical reinvention of the franchise, Wada wasn't talking about the series' recent single-player outings (or Crystal Chronicles, X-2, or The Spirits Within). The CEO was speaking specifically about Final Fantasy XIV, the company's 2010 MMORPG that was overwhelmingly panned by critics upon release. Currently, the game holds a paltry 49 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic, with most reviews to date calling it buggy, unpolished, and even incomplete.

In response to this negative feedback, the company announced a renewed commitment to improving the game, completely reorganizing the development team and delaying PS3 version until things improved on the PC. Over a year after the game's release, that PS3 launch is still in question, riding on the Square-Enix's ability to salvage their game.

During the conference, Wada said that this fix-it attitude will carry on until the product – and by extension the brand – have been salvaged. "We'll continue with our reform work, which basically amounts to fully redoing the game, and hope to revive the FFXIV that should have been released."

Via Andriasang.