前Square Enix業務總監雅各布·納沃克近日公開批評老東家，稱其未能有效推動旗下核心IP在新受眾中增長。他指出，像《Final Fantasy》這樣的系列適應現代遊戲趨勢的速度過慢，未能充分利用服務型遊戲模式的潛力。
納沃克表示，Square Enix並非不懂服務型遊戲——《Final Fantasy XIV》和《Final Fantasy XI》已證明其能力。但公司缺乏膽識與速度，始終未能將《Final Fantasy》品牌有效推廣給年輕一代玩家。他舉例說，可以嘗試大膽的跨界聯動，例如《Final Fantasy》與K-pop組合「惡魔獵人」合作，或借鑑《萬智牌》在卡牌之外的擴展思路。他還提到，《王國之心》早已證明該系列世界觀可以與其他IP自然融合。
An actual marketing strategy would address the fact that marketing today is a combination of: 1. Viral / meme (Tiktok, YouTube, Influencer) marketing 2. Community (Discord, Reddit, Social Media) driven marketing 3. Media (Film/TV/Roblox/Fortnite) driven marketing You need to address the question of why teens and twenty-somethings care about your IP. Final Fantasy hasn’t been cool for a long time, and there’s nothing here that tells me when that will change. My son doesn't play Mario games yet, but he watches the films. He'll watch the Zelda movie when it comes out. He sees Sonic games in Roblox and the films in theaters. Square Enix is nowhere in film or platforms that he cares about. It is no where in the real theme parks except for a limited event at Oogie Boogie Bash in Halloween, and even that is for Kingdom Hearts featuring Mickey/Donald/Goffy, not the actual FF characters. Where is Final Fantasy fest at Universal Studios? Even Sailor Moon got one.
納沃克建議，Square Enix甚至可以利用《Final Fantasy XIV》的技術基礎，打造一款全新的免費在線遊戲，配合持續更新與現代聯動內容。他直言，公司內部「太習慣於慢節奏行動」，大量官僚主義阻礙了創新。管理層應更主動地消除內部限制，否則旗下王牌系列將繼續落後於行業潮流。
