Square Enix addresses Chocobo GP issues following fan complaints
UPDATE: Square Enix releases English statement.
UPDATE 18/3/22: Following Square Enix's previous acknowledgment of the failures found in Chocobo GP, a new statement has been released in English. This statement ties in with the previously translated statement below, with Square Enix and producer Hironori Okayama apologising to players about the game's state.
The new statement reads:
"To all our players, I am very sorry that bugs in the competitive modes of the game, and our lack of advance communication, have caused inconvenience to players. The development team has come together and been working to fix all the bugs as soon as possible.
"We have also heard many opinions about how additional DLC is implemented. We are considering this feedback seriously and putting all our efforts into making sure that we provide future updates that satisfy all fans who have purchased the game.
"The first thing we have done is changed the Prize Level system for Chocobo GP mode to make it easier to increase your level. We have also eased up on the overall requirements and have now made it easier to reach level 100, in particular. We hope players will take advantage of this to earn Cloud or some new vehicles.
"We have also set our new design policy to readjust the metagame, so that it is easier for players to earn new characters once they have purchased the retail version of the game. Taking this thinking further, we will now have cosmetic items, such as costumes that don't affect gameplay, as the high-level Prize Pass rewards, or as items on sale in the Mythril Shop.
"We are open to implementing additional changes to the game, and will continue to take all feedback into account and polish the game even further going forward. We are also considering removing some of the restrictions on the Lite version to make it easier for streamers to hold events, so watch out for further news on that."
Unlike the below translation, this new statement does not make mention of players being gifted any Mythril.
ORIGINAL STORY 18/3/22: Following the release of the Final Fantasy themed kart racing sim Chocobo GP on the Nintendo Switch, many fans were left disappointed by the game's general state, as well as its heavy reliance on in-game currencies and microtransactions.
Square Enix has now acknowledged these concerns and released an outline of how the company is going to address the game's issues going forward.
An official statement on Twitter roughly translates from Japanese as: "Thank you for playing Chocobo Grand Prix. We are currently receiving many inquiries, and we would like to inform you about the status of various problems and future updates.
"We are investigating the cause of each problem and taking corrective action", the post explains (thanks for translating, Sat-AM).
The game's producer Hironori Okayama states: "We apologise for the inconvenience caused to the players due to problems with the battle function and lack of advance notice."
"The development team will work as one to deal with any defects so that they can be repaired as soon as possible".
The most common problems reported by Chocobo GP players are bugs when trying to purchase in-game items, players unable to get into the 'ready' state ahead of a race and inconsistent start timings.
To try and appease its players, Square Enix has offered up some olive branches.
As a result, players of Chocobo GP should start noticing a welcome relaxation of the overall score required to raise the prize level (previously fans would have to grind for in game currency to obtain characters such as FF8's Squall Leonheart).
In addition to this, the company has distributed 500 Mithril to everyone within the game.
When discussing upcoming content and updates, Square Enix informed fans that more characters, tracks and costumes will be arriving in future seasons, with the seasons scheduled to change roughly every two months.
Okayama wrote: "We have also received many comments on how to provide additional DLC. We take this seriously and will continue to do our best to provide updates that will satisfy everyone who purchases [the game]".
Meanwhile, Square Enix acknowledged it "may need to adjust the character's balance to maintain a healthy competitive environment and modify basic functions to improve playability". However, if something within the game needed to be fixed immediately, it will be done so without players having to wait for the scheduled seasonal update.
Okayama added: "On top of that, we are thinking of placing things that are unlikely to affect gameplay, such as costume changes, in higher rewards, Mithril shops, and so on."
Square Enix is "also considering removing some restrictions on the Lite version to make [Chocobo GP] easier for video distributors to hold events."
"These are not the only decisions to be made, and we will continue to brush up on the opinions we have received," Okayama concluded, before thanking player for their ongoing support.