Square Enix: Final Fantasy XIV 'Greatly Damaged' Entire Brand

The Final Fantasy name has been "greatly damaged," due to the troubled Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix admitted today at a Tokyo press conference. Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada said that the entire Final Fantasy franchise has been affected by the shortfalls of the MMO title, according to an Andriasang report. "The Final Fantasy brand has been greatly damaged," he said. "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." Released last September on PC, the MMORPG saw launch problems, thanks to stability and performance issues. The PlayStation 3 version of the game was later delayed, as the development team attempted to improve certain elements of the game "to meet customer expectations." And as the publisher chose to delay charging players any subscription fees to play the game, Square Enix reported declines in fiscal year sales and profits. Producer Naoki Yoshida then revealed that the company was laying out an extensive list of gameplay changes, all planned for the title through the summer.