Soul Calibur VI: General discussion
- Thread starter SSfox
- Start date
LisaK
[14] Master
BREAKING NEWS 
after almost 5 years since his official return to the Soulcalibur franchise, Hwang finally had his announcement attached to the wall of the official SC fandom wiki page, previously containing all the other SC VI DLC except him.
after almost 5 years since his official return to the Soulcalibur franchise, Hwang finally had his announcement attached to the wall of the official SC fandom wiki page, previously containing all the other SC VI DLC except him.
AriesWarlock
[12] Conqueror
JohnMcKee
[14] Master
That Voldo is gonna give me nightmares for days!
LisaK
[14] Master
thinking about what it will be like when SC7 introduces battle passes to stay active
Rusted Blade
[14] Master
A close look at Talim's hands won't help the uncanny valley feeling...
LisaK
[14] Master
I saw some comments mentioning the fact that SC flopped because they doesn't have someone like Harada and I can understand what they meant by that, but I would still like to remind you guys (from reddit) that Harada was a co-producer of Soulcalibur IV, so we technically had someone like Harada, actually Harada himself and I get the impression that SC left a very bitter taste in his mouth.
Rusted Blade
[14] Master
Where did you get that impression? Harada's spoken up a number of times (including in some pretty voluminous social media posts in recent months) about how highly he regards the series and its legacy. He has noted that there was a time when Soulcalibur was massively out-performing Tekken in overseas (that is, non-Japanese) markets and seems to put the fact that Soulcalibur eventually fell so far behind in overall sales down to the existence of certain idiosyncrasies in Namco's corporate culture, that pulled key talent away from the title at bad times. Even then, last I heard him comment on the series, he seemed cautiously optimistic that there is enough love for the series spread out through Namco's development teams that another true blockbuster game in the series could eventually happen, if the right internal circumstances of the company aligned to allow them to come together.
Anyway, what I think people mean when they say that a Harada-type figure is needed to bring SC back from the brink, they mean someone who has both the influence and the dedication yo shephard and champion it through ups and downs. Harada himself seems to agree with that, noting that Soulcalibur once had someone in that position in the person of Hiroaki Yotoriyama. But Yotoriyama's role in that respect seems to have ended after SCIV and he's not longer even with the company. Obviously Daishi Odashima was the hired gun that Namco brought in for SCV (and we all know how that worked out) and Okubo-san obviously filled in as the chief organizational proponent and development lead for SCVI, but neither of them had the combination of clout and longterm engagement of the sort I think both Harada and the people you are referencing are talking about. Okubo was a Tekken guy for most of his time with Namco and I think stepped into the role he did with SC out of a combination of love for the series and because, in terms of his career, it was a major feather in his hat to be lead producer and head of the development team. I personally like the guy and think he sincerely hoped to rekindle the popularity of the series, but I'm not the higest of fans of the features he prioritized or the changes he made to the SC formula. Regardless, he's left the company too, so not really a similar stabilizing figure in the sense that Harada has been to Tekken or Yotoriyama once was for Soulcalibur.
And yeah, Harada did co-direct SCIV, but he's also made it clear that more generally he kept his distance from the series because his situation was already complicated enough while trying to climb the Namco career ladder while also staying creative lead on Tekken. I think the redditors more or less seem to have a good point about the lack of Soulcalibur champion at Namco in the last fifteen years, and what Harada has had to say about it recently seems to suggest he has a similar perspective.
LisaK
[14] Master
hmmn actually when I talked about the bitter taste in his mouth it was about the pressure he had as co-producer of the game.
Idk how many times he has spoken about Soulcalibur besides the huge text he posted recently, and judging by the number of comments on his tweet about Guilty Gear like "what about Soulcalibur?" I think I'm not the only one who must have found it weird how he talks about several fg from other franchises but dont talk about Soulcalibur.
Daishi has been working on SC since III, so it kind of makes sense that he ended up becoming a producer, like, the position was empty and he volunteered. I'm not going to talk about his creative decisions, everyone has their own view of what would be right or wrong, he had the opportunity to give his vision on the series and certainly others have their own. For example, I, in a position of power at PS, would remind the screenwriter of Raphael's revenge arc
Rusted Blade
[14] Master
You know, I completely mis-remembered that. I remembered it as him coming in from outside Project Soul to direct SCV. Maybe it's because he was so vocal about the inspiration he took from other series.Daishi has been working on SC since III, so it kind of makes sense that he ended up becoming a producer, like, the position was empty and he volunteered. I'm not going to talk about his creative decisions, everyone has their own view of what would be right or wrong, he had the opportunity to give his vision on the series and certainly others have their own. For example, I, in a position of power at PS, would remind the screenwriter of Raphael's revenge arc
LisaK
[14] Master
Some time ago, well before the announcement of the second season of SC6, a fan made a toxic tweet in relation to Daishi due to a confirmation of the exclusion of a character 
and in this the director of SC6 went to defend Daishi, I feel sorry for him, because all the failure of SC5 fell on his shoulders, and he had to bear everything alone, even leaving BAMCO after that. We don't know to what extent he was or wasn't responsible for something, and just look at Okubo who didn't have the chance to gift the fans with another season of SC6, even if this wasn't official we already had several indications that after the world tour he would probably announce it.
As I said, everyone has their own creative vision. I've seen a guy who would like SC7 to be something like >young< Siegfried travel to theSC5 tl and destroyed Nightmare and date with Pyrrha. I think this plot is blasphemous, but for him it all makes sense, that's why I don't complain much about SC5.
and in this the director of SC6 went to defend Daishi, I feel sorry for him, because all the failure of SC5 fell on his shoulders, and he had to bear everything alone, even leaving BAMCO after that. We don't know to what extent he was or wasn't responsible for something, and just look at Okubo who didn't have the chance to gift the fans with another season of SC6, even if this wasn't official we already had several indications that after the world tour he would probably announce it.As I said, everyone has their own creative vision. I've seen a guy who would like SC7 to be something like >young< Siegfried travel to theSC5 tl and destroyed Nightmare and date with Pyrrha. I think this plot is blasphemous, but for him it all makes sense, that's why I don't complain much about SC5.
Frayhua
[14] Master
It's amazing that Tekken 8 died in the same week when Dragon Ball Z: Sparkling Zero released.
Rusted Blade
[14] Master
1,000% There were some real head-scratcher decisions when it comes to the creative direction and mechanical choices in that game, but considering the apparent crunch time and budget issues, it's a pretty decent result. It's not a bad game by any means, and the idea that it "almost killed the series" is highly exaggerated, or even histrionic: there was a lot more going on at Namco and in the industry and FG genre at large to explain the gap between SCV and SCVI. Nor, as you were alluding to, was Daishi the only chef in the kitchen when it comes to SCV.Some time ago, well before the announcement of the second season of SC6, a fan made a toxic tweet in relation to Daishi due to a confirmation of the exclusion of a character
As I said, everyone has their own creative vision. I've seen a guy who would like SC7 to be something like >young< Siegfried travel to theSC5 tl and destroyed Nightmare and date with Pyrrha. I think this plot is blasphemous, but for him it all makes sense, that's why I don't complain much about SC5.
Regardless, people holding on to these ridiculous narratives that they've built up in their heads about why particular games "failed" or lacked the features they would have liked, sometimes for years on end and typically based on a whole lot of personal speculation or rumor-mill nonsense--it's just so ridiculous. Particularly if it's based on something as myopic and silly as their favorite character being missing. People in this fandom (well, let's be honest pop culture fandoms in general) can be so out of touch with reality in the amount of emotional investment than can give to such things: especially now that social media has empowered them to feel heard no matter how minute or petty their complaint.
But what can you do? Some people just don't seem capable of contributing anything to the shared human experience in general, or fan culture in particular, except to randomly bitch and fill the environment around them with noxious, irrational gripes, over and over and over again...
...Oh, hey Frayhua, welcome back.
LisaK
[14] Master
Bandai Namco has reportedly cancelled several titles and is cutting its workforce
According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, the company is “taking a traditionally Japanese approach to reducing staff and sending workers to rooms where they are given nothing to do, putting pressure on them to leave voluntarily.”
Bandai Namco Studios has reportedly moved 200 workers to such rooms, leading to almost 100 resignations.
A representative of Bandai Namco told Bloomberg: “Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation.
“Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before they are assigned their next project, but we do move forward with assignments as new projects emerge.
“There is no organization like an ‘oidashi beya’ at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily.”
Oidashi Beya is a practice used by Japanese corporations to isolate employees by giving them no tasks, in an effort to get them to leave of their own volition, rather than be let go and receive severance.
Bandai Namcon’s latest release, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has seen strong initial sales. The game, developed by Spike Chunsoft surpassed a total of 3 million units sold worldwide in 24 hours after its launch, according to the publisher.
Bandai Namco Studios has reportedly moved 200 workers to such rooms, leading to almost 100 resignations.
A representative of Bandai Namco told Bloomberg: “Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation.
“Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before they are assigned their next project, but we do move forward with assignments as new projects emerge.
“There is no organization like an ‘oidashi beya’ at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily.”
Oidashi Beya is a practice used by Japanese corporations to isolate employees by giving them no tasks, in an effort to get them to leave of their own volition, rather than be let go and receive severance.
Bandai Namcon’s latest release, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has seen strong initial sales. The game, developed by Spike Chunsoft surpassed a total of 3 million units sold worldwide in 24 hours after its launch, according to the publisher.
LisaK
[14] Master
They're giving away the next stage for free* because they know that if they decide to charge they'll have to deal with more hate.
SSfox
[14] Master
Let's go guys, comment, like retweet ect
gamerfan40
[02] Apprentice
Soulcalibur 7 was most likely not even greenlit, so it can't be canceled, and Soulcalibur 7 is most likely never getting greenlit because Bandai Namco doesn't really care about the series anymore because it's not as popular or as profitable as Tekken and there's barely anyone at Bandai namco left who cares about soulcalibur, although with the layoffs, they most likely got rid of the few remaining people who care about soulcalibur and i highly doubt Bandai namco would let a 3rd party developer to make a soulcalibur game
Rusted Blade
[14] Master
It'll get made. It could just be a while. Like, seriously, with this news, it could be another six years. Certainly not going to be before 2028. I had so many arguments with the pie-eyed fantasists predicting a SCVII by 2022 back when VI first released. Even long before the current AAA industry crisis, it was clear that the next wait was going to be brutal, much though most didn't want to hear it. But at the end of the day, it's Namco. It's in their IP catalog, and they'll rotate around to it again eventually. And if they have to tap heavily into the Tekken people to staff a Soulcalibur development team (in-between Tekken titles) it wouldn't be the first time.