“Final Fantasy” was once a youthful memory of countless players, but the biggest crisis facing Square Enix today may not be sales or development costs, but that the new generation of players simply don’t recognize it. Jacob Navok, a former Square Enix executive and current CEO of Genvid, said in a recent interview that “Final Fantasy” and “Star Wars” are actually facing the same problem, that is, the fans are getting older, but the younger group has not followed suit. In other words, the old players are still there, but there are fewer and fewer new players, and the entire IP is beginning to show generational gaps.
Old players become older as they play, while new players never enter the game.
In fact, even Square Enix itself is aware of this problem. “Final Fantasy The data is also quite cruel. According to Circana analysis, 77% of the players of “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” in the United States are over 30 years old, and 62% are over 35 years old. This means that the players who played “Final Fantasy VII” back then are still playing, but their next generation may not take over.
Keep remaking classics but not creating new classics
Jacob Navok believes that Square Enix has relied too much on nostalgic works such as the “Final Fantasy VII Remake” trilogy in recent years. Although it can make old fans pay, it has limited appeal to young players. After all, if a player has been exposed to “Genshin Impact” or “Fortnite” since childhood, then “Final Fantasy” may just be a name from their parents’ era to them.
Many players also agree with this view. Some players believe that the gameplay of “Final Fantasy” is too different between each generation. In addition, new games are often released only once every five years, making it difficult for young players to establish a long-term sense of identity. In contrast, “Persona”, “Like a Dragon” and even “Resident Evil” continue to attract new generations of players.
The problem isn’t just for Final Fantasy, it’s also for Star Wars
In fact, this is also the dilemma that “Star Wars” has been facing in recent years. When the core fans gradually age, if the IP cannot find new young audiences, it will eventually have to continue selling sentiments to the same group of people. The problem is that feelings can be sold once or twice, but it is difficult to sell them forever. When “Final Fantasy” starts to worry that young people won’t play it, and “Star Wars” starts to worry that young people won’t watch it, perhaps the real problem is not whether the work is good or not, but that the entire entertainment market has long since changed its audience.