Square-Enix: GRIN’s Executioners?

Though Square-Enix publishes some of the most beloved game series of all time, including Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, the company doesn’t always endear itself to its North American followers. From half-assed work on its most important titles, to shutting down fan projects at the last possible second, to (some will claim) recycling the same hero archetypes and costumes game after game after multimillion dollar game, Square-Enix commands a huge fan base that throws a lot of love and hate in its direction.

So when Ulf and Bo Andersson, the founders of the now-defunct GRIN game studio, declared last month in an interview that Square-Enix was the main reason for GRIN shutting its doors, many of us put our ears to the wall to hear about what Square-Enix had “This time.”

According to the report, which was published in Aftonbladet and translated by Kotaku, The Anderssons were chosen to help Square-Enix put together a Final Fantasy spinoff game, code-named “Fortress.” Though GRIN says met the set milestones, it claims that Square-Enix was unhappy with the work and didn’t pay the studio any of the $20 million it was supposed to receive for its work. This lack of funds reportedly led to GRIN shutting down in August 2009.

The Anderssons also declared that Square-Enix was very difficult to work with, a problem that climaxed when Square-Enix asked GRIN to send Fortress‘ game code over fax. Square-Enix allegedly didn’t like the game’s Nordic art style, either. Feeling like the project was doomed, the Anderssons sent Square-Enix an image of Final Fantasy XII‘s production art, and Square-Enix allegedly fired back with, “This does not look like Final Fantasy.”

“We wanted to come in and revolutionize Final Fantasy, which is exactly what they need,” said Bo Andersson. “The latest version [presumably Final Fantasy XIII] sucks of course.”

Sounds like a classic case of a big, faceless corporation stepping all over the hard work of the little studio as it claws for that hard-earned fistful of bread crusts that’ll keep it alive for another day. But, as easy as it might be to root for GRIN and to demonize Square-Enix based on the studios’ reputations alone, we should refrain from doing either. For one thing, the publication that ran the interview, Aftonbladet, is a Swedish tabloid. And even if tabloids don’t outright make up untrue stories, they thrive on embellishment and angles. There are two sides to every story, and it’s a good bet Aftonbladet didn’t expend a lot of effort to get Square-Enix’s take on the issue.

It’s also a good bet that GRIN’s troubles weren’t entirely of Square-Enix’s making. The studio did some superb work in its time, including the funny and nostalgic Bionic Command: Rearmed remake for Capcom, but between the very poorly received 3D Bionic Commando title that followed Rearmed and the likewise poorly received game adaptation for Terminator: Salvation, 2009 proved a very rough year for GRIN. Even if GRIN did experience a great deal of trouble with its failed Final Fantasy project, Square-Enix did not single-handedly take the axe to its staff.

It’s sad to see GRIN die, and it’s wholly understandable why Bo and Ulf are still frustrated and angry over the business, especially if they did have specific problems with Square-Enix. But we need both sides of the story before we can level any accusations at Square-Enix.

We’d also love some confirmation on that “fax the source code” anecdote, because if it’s true, that is just hilariously insane.

About Nadia Oxford
Nadia is a freelance writer living in Toronto. She played her first game at four, decided games were awesome, and has maintained her position since. She writes for 1UP.com, Slide to Play, GamePro and other publications, and is About.com’s Guide to the Nintendo DS.

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