10 Problems That Stop Popular Video Game Companies Being Perfect

6. Square Enix's Terrible Ideas Ruin Its American Properties

Deus ex mankind divided
Eidos

Square Enix has some of the most talented developers working on its games, yet the publisher always makes terrible business decisions that set them up to fail before they're even released.

While their Japanese titles haven't suffered as much, American properties such as Hitman, Tomb Raider and Deus Ex have been screwed over because of Square's inability to just let its developers get on with making great games.

The decision to make Tomb Raider a timed Xbox One exclusive (despite being primarily known as a PlayStation property) guaranteed bad sales across both consoles, while the episodic nature of Hitman ended up making most players think it was a budget release.

Perhaps most egregiously though, Square's decision to split the latest Deus Ex into two games (one of which will probably never see the light of day) ended up being a total disaster, resulting in one disappointing title that was clearly limited in scope.

Despite the meddling, developers have managed to make some pretty good games over the years, but they could have been even better had Square just left well enough alone.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.