The Disastrous Fall of Babylon’s Fall

[00:00]  Triple-A game publishers have always chased  the success of the industry’s latest trends,  

[00:20] a phenomenon that inspired the creation  of an exorbitant number of Grand Theft   Auto clones throughout the sixth and  seventh console generations. On occasion,   such thinking has born good fruit, evidenced in  PUBG’s quick claim to fame influencing everything  

[00:34] from Fortnite Battle Royale to Call of Duty:  Warzone. But on the flip side, pursuing popular   trends runs the risk of stifling creativity  and alienating players, a recipe for disaster  

[00:47] that has taken many once-ambitious endeavors  to an early grave. This Square Enix learned   the hard way upon publishing Babylon’s Fall. The online-only adventure from Bayonetta creator   PlatinumGames marked one of Square Enix’s  many attempts to broaden its reach in the  

[01:03] live-service space, whose persistent revenue  streams has significantly boosted many a   company’s bottom line. While Babylon’s Fall seemed  to feature the hallmarks of a quality service game   with its proven development team and compelling  gameplay mechanics, it launched with few redeeming  

[01:19] qualities, resulting in catastrophic review  scores and a rapidly dwindling player base.   Platinum maintained focus throughout the rough  start, deploying and developing new content for   what should’ve been a lengthy life cycle for  Babylon’s Fall on PC and PlayStation. To cut  

[01:35] its losses, Square Enix pulled the plug far  earlier than anticipated, robbing developers   of any chance to salvage the project. Thus,  what began as Platinum bringing its signature   style to the burgeoning games-as-a-service  model concluded with what may go down as  

[01:50] one of the studio’s least memorable outings. This is the tragedy of Babylon’s Fall.  

[02:02] Square Enix Producer Junichi Ehara   had long dreamed of producing a new hack-and-slash  adventure. It was simply a matter of selling his  

[02:25] vision to the best development partner.  Other teams were under consideration,   yet PlatinumGames’s genre-defining NieR:  Automata[a] convinced Ehara and fellow   Square Enix Producer Yosuke Saito that  no one else would better fit the bill.  

[02:39] The endeavor centered on a multiplayer  online RPG with hack-and-slash mechanics.   On top of a desire to expand upon NieR:  Automata’s “action gameplay,” the publisher   put forth one other “simple” request for the  developer—“create a high-fantasy setting.”  

[02:55] Tackling the desired setting and gameplay style  wouldn’t prove a problem for the Osaka-based   outfit. However, in a developer featurette,  Director Kenji Saito likened the stipulated   online component to “development on hard mode.”  Either way, Platinum accepted the challenge after  

[03:11] shipping NieR: Automata, then spent four-plus  years crafting the world of Babylon’s Fall.   Though there were inclinations to follow the  path of traditional hack-and-slash experiences,   experimenting with the formula seemed ideal in  some cases. For example, Lead Game Designer Isao  

[03:27] Negishi noted such games typically allowed users  to build characters by combining “weapons, armor,   and skills.” Babylon’s Fall instead boasted  “Battle Actions” that activated certain   abilities to draw out the player character’s  “strongest powers,” thereby opening the door  

[03:42] for builds structured around “evading attacks with  pinpoint timing” and the like. The gameplay itself   changed in accordance with these player-driven  preferences, hopefully creating a level of depth   rivaling Platinum’s previous action titles. Combat tools similarly received careful  

[03:58] thought. Speaking to Famitsu post-launch,  Negishi divulged the original intention of   equipping players with four weapons to switch  in rotation. Finding this setup too limiting,   developers implemented a system wherein two  weapons were equipped to both hands. Ensuring  

[04:13] users could mix and match to reflect their  preferred playstyles further elevated the   breadth of gameplay possibilities. Attaching a  pair of swords on one hand and two staffs on the   other served as but one option, while affixing  hammers in all four slots constituted another.  

[04:28] It seemed Platinum had little trouble  melding its trademark gameplay ethos   with the hack-and-slash genre. But Square  Enix’s request for a high-fantasy backdrop   demanded a different set of eyes, particularly  with respect to the visual style that would  

[04:42] set the tone and tenor of Babylon’s Fall. “Classical European oil paintings” provided the   source of inspiration behind the project’s visual  language. Square Enix and Platinum, thus, sought  

[04:57] an artist capable of rendering their fantasy world  through a “deeply layered” lens, hence the hiring   of Kouji Tajima. The companies considered Tajima  a “perfect fit” for the Character Designer role,   though his credentials were predominantly  comprised of live-action films such as Terminator:  

[05:13] Dark Fate and Blade Runner 2049. According  to Tajima, fantasy suited his personal style   enough to make the transition between the  film and interactive mediums smoother.   In minding the high-fantasy motif, along with  the developer and publisher’s instructions to  

[05:29] keep the designs “polished and sophisticated,”  the artist steered clear of cartoonish styles.   The result was art that complimented Babylon’s  Fall’s oil painting-inspired “brushwork style,"   achieved through a technique developed  specifically for the Platinum title.  

[05:44] The studio outsourced talent for the storytelling,  too, partnering with Final Fantasy 11 Online’s   scenario writer, Kenichi Iwao, who focused on  weaving a tale in which the protagonist felt   forced into “unfolding events,” their skill level  running in tandem with the narrative. As such,  

[06:00] Iwao's scenario positioned the player as prisoner  to a nation warring with a formidable empire. The   story worked such that after reluctantly joining  the war for their captors, the player character   would build a reputation on the battlefield,  win their freedom, then subsequently find  

[06:15] motives of their own worthy of the fight. Notably, the ongoing battle fed into the   game’s “never-ending goal,” which, in turn,  fueled its live-service features. Given the   solo play and four-player co-op hook, Platinum  prioritized throwing users into the action as  

[06:30] soon as possible. From there, the development  team hoped regular content updates would keep   players returning for even more. The Hanging  Garden community website came online to extend   the live-service experience by facilitating  each player’s connection to Babylon’s Fall  

[06:45] outside the game. Some would later argue these  efforts ultimately proved for naught.  

[07:05] Square Enix and PlatinumGames announced their  second partnership at the former’s E3 2018 video   presentation. The project bore a 2019 release  window for PC and PS4 but barring these details,  

[07:18] the developer and publisher shared precious  little about what Babylon’s Fall would entail.   Even the reveal trailer only teased the bare  minimum, its less-than-two-minute runtime   cycling through a series of far-future dates  before pausing at two knights duking it out,  

[07:33] then transitioning to four silhouetted knights  standing side-by-side. In-game action finally sat   front and center in the first gameplay trailer  showcased during PlayStation’s December 2019   State of Play. The over-the-top hack-and-slash  combat, mixed with footage of a larger-than-life  

[07:50] boss character left quite the impression on  viewers who still knew next to nothing about   the adventure yet eagerly awaited its eventual  arrival, which took longer than anticipated.   Though initially scheduled for a 2019 rollout,  Platinum spent much of the year keeping Babylon’s  

[08:07] Fall under wraps. Speaking with JPGames,  Director Kenji Saito admitted the first delay   and lack of promotion came down to the team  battling unexpected challenges with certain   game systems and post-launch arrangements,  all new territory for the crew at Platinum.  

[08:22] Fitting the studio’s hallmark action into a  persistent online mold brought its fair share of   growing pains, too. The addition of a PS5 version  and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on production   considerably lengthened the development cycle  as well, thus explaining the 2022 due date.  

[08:39] But while the limited promo may have  allowed for a greater focus on creating   the game itself, it also let the public  draw uninformed conclusions. As a result,   pundits and hopeful players alike walked away  from the late 2019 gameplay reveal thinking  

[08:53] Babylon’s Fall would launch as another of  Platinum’s single-player adventures. The   E3 2021 announcement of live-service features  was met with surprise and disappointment.   Speculation that Square Enix had tacked on the  service angle at the last minute took root,  

[09:09] yet Producer Junichi Ehara maintained  the online-only features came baked in   at the start. Regardless, the beta sessions  that followed E3 2021 indicated Platinum’s   attempt at breaking into the oversaturated  games-as-a-service space had missed the mark.  

[09:38] Square Enix and Platinum hosted the first closed  beta period in the summer of 2021, offering PC   users a chance to try out and deliver feedback on  Babylon’s Fall. An appreciable amount of the beta   impressions critiqued the oil painting-inspired  visuals; players found the art blurry above all  

[09:55] else, an issue that made understanding the  on-screen action incredibly difficult. Those   with impaired vision complained of feeling strain  while playing, sometimes to a degree that proved   headache-inducing. Consequently, Platinum toned  down the brushwork art, “improving legibility  

[10:10] while retaining the unique oil painting-style.”  Kenji Saito would later tell JPGames the filter   used in the original beta boasted a “lower  level of polish” and prioritized “artistic  

[10:22] depiction,” effectively making the game look  better in screenshots and less so in motion.   Platinum made the necessary graphical adjustments  in time for the third beta test; however,   other questions regarding visual details  pervaded the online discourse. Most notably,  

[10:37] players noticed gear and emote assets that  resembled content from Final Fantasy 14,   leading to accusations that Platinum had “ripped  off” the MMORPG. Producer Yosuke Saito explained  

[10:49] in a Hanging Garden blog post that Babylon’s Fall  “borrowed” data from the Final Fantasy-branded   MMO, but only because FF14 Director Naoki  Yoshida offered the assets freely.   Yoshida corroborated[b] as much in a supporting  message, noting that while attending an early  

[11:05] Babylon’s Fall presentation, he recognized the  pressure Platinum would be under to deliver a   broad selection of gear variations and  subsequently extended an opportunity   to ease the burden with FF14 assets. Final  Fantasy developers supervised “subtle design”  

[11:20] adjustments throughout the process, ensuring  the borrowed data complemented the world of   Babylon’s Fall. No one expected the shared content  to become such a “hot topic.” According to Saito,   assistance from the Final Fantasy crew guaranteed  Babylon’s Fall would receive more gear and emotes  

[11:36] on day one than initially planned. Yet the graphics-related concerns merely   scratched the surface, especially since gameplay  impressions[c] were less than positive during the   beta tests. For one, critics and players lamented  the laser focus on the tedious grind for gear;  

[11:51] Square Enix and Platinum’s blatantly obvious  investment in retaining users long-term outweighed   any investment in fun mechanics. And minimal  exploration, along with barren dungeons and the   absence of puzzles or hidden secrets, ultimately  made for an experience that felt bereft of  

[12:07] Platinum’s signature charm. At the very least, the  final beta showed promise in that the studio had   gone to great lengths to implement improvements  across all three sessions. But the changes   couldn’t alleviate fears of Square Enix failing to  learn from the pitfalls of Marvel’s Avengers.  

[12:26] Misgivings about Babylon’s Fall continued  building throughout the weeks ahead of its   March 2022 release. Square Enix's past  bad practices with Marvel’s Avengers[d]  

[12:41] prompted Platinum to clarify its approach to  monetization, which included cosmetic-only   microtransactions. Similar assurances concerning  fair XP distribution and boosters made the rounds   during the lead-up to launch, as well. Good  intentions did not beget a good game, though.  

[12:58] Babylon’s Fall hit PC, PS4, and PS5 in March  2022 and summarily received widespread critical   panning. Bland dungeon crawling, lackluster  graphics, and relatively dull combat felt all  

[13:11] The Metacritic Score stalled at an abysmal  41 and 46 on PS5 and PC[e], respectively,   engendering speculation about whether Square  Enix and Platinum would pull the plug early.  

[13:26] Maintaining previously stated commitments  of supporting Babylon’s Fall through a “long   operating period,” the development studio  insisted that despite the poor reception,   there were “no plans to reduce the scale  of development.” Rather than linger on  

[13:40] the disastrous release, post-launch promotion  prepared players for future content—a Season   2 and Season 3 Battle Pass included, along  with unspecified plans far beyond those.   Incremental updates bolstered the Season 1  content, such as the Version 1.1.0 Resurgence  

[13:57] Chapter[f] that introduced a new faction,  Blockade Zone map, increased level cap,   and the Gauntlet game mode just weeks after  launch. In addition, a NieR: Automata event   ran from March 29 through April 26, enticing  players with collaborative quests and items.  

[14:13] But even Platinum’s beloved NieR couldn’t endear  users and newcomers to the online adventure.   The PC user base dropped off considerably in May,  with Babylon’s Fall entertaining the attention of  

[14:25] a mere 77 concurrent players at one point.  That same week unleashed another devastating   blow when Steam Charts data showed a single  concurrent user engaged in the action. And still,   Platinum persisted, deploying Season  2 offerings on May 31. The new season,  

[14:42] entitled The Light of Aaru, added another faction,  80 extra missions, and the pistol weapon type.   Despite the massive update, the developer  and its publishing partner had to reckon   with the dwindling player count, presumably  culminating in Season 2’s three-month cycle  

[14:57] stretching into a six-month window while Platinum  reassessed its content roadmap[g]. However,   instead of yielding more content, the  reevaluation of Season 3 and beyond ended   with Square Enix deciding to terminate the  Babylon’s Fall service on February 27, 2023,  

[15:12] approximately 12 months after its market debut. All formerly planned “larger-scale updates” were   canceled as a consequence. A suspension on premium  currency sales immediately went into effect;  

[15:24] sales of the digital version and physical  copies on retail websites similarly ceased   following the termination announcement.  The Hanging Garden community site also   shut down on February 27, the last vestiges  of the live service fading into obscurity.  

[15:39] Although dismal review scores and woefully  low player counts likely expedited the   demise of Babylon’s Fall, Square Enix never  explained the service’s premature closure.   PlatinumGames, for its part, could offer nothing  save an apology via a VGC interview wherein studio  

[15:55] CEO Atsushi Inaba said the reasoning behind the  decision would need to come from Square Enix.   The experience didn’t dissuade Platinum  from possibly pursuing another persistent   online game. On the contrary, the experience  taught the storied developer a valuable lesson,  

[16:11] which manifested as two key pillars for future  live-service endeavors. Inaba noted that,   “performing the live service” in-house would  serve as another top priority. Furthermore,  

[16:24] he argued these values would need to be treasured  “by the same people, on the same team, at the   very same company,” lest one pillar gain value  over another and produce unfavorable results.  

[16:36] But Inaba and company didn’t want to dwell on the  frustration and what-ifs. According to the CEO,   pressing on and “connecting the Babylon’s Fall  experience to their efforts moving forward” was   the only way to let go of the discontent in  the long run. The tragedy of Babylon’s Fall,  

[16:51] then, is that whatever live service  Platinum builds next will have been   laid on a foundation of broken promises and one  publisher’s refusal to learn from past mistakes.