So the Square Enix Music Discord has reached yet another giant and prestigious milestone, the 10,000 members mark! The level of 10,000 in itself is quite extraordinary for a game brand musical community. To celebrate this occasion, they gave out Steam gift cards as prizes; well, I guess there’s never a wrong way to celebrate. One just needs to go over to the link, mention their favorite Square Enix piece, and have fun; pretty straightforward…now, the replies on this tweet..
First things first, now on to the actual celebrations. Reaching 10k members on Discord dedicated to game music is no easy feat. Square Enix has, after all, bashed one of the most iconic soundtracks into the gaming world from Final Fantasy to Kingdom Hearts, and everything in-between. So it makes sense that the fans would want to gather somewhere to geek out about Nobuo Uematsu’s masterpieces or Yoko Shimomura’s grandiose compositions. Hence, the giveaway is a pretty neat way to give something back, rewarding the participant lucky enough with a Steam gift card. It’s a pretty stock promo move, but it does get everybody excited.
Scroll back down and sneak a peek at the replies: an entirely different atmosphere! Instead of everyone sharing their favorite tracks, a good amount are clamoring for the firing of an employee named Kate Cwynar. And it’s not just a couple of belligerent commenters; it’s a very loud chorus. Many accuse her of punishing innocent people from public life and celebrating acts of violence. Somehow, one of the commenters brought up a board member, Tracy Fullerton, as also promoting said radical left-wing content. It is a mess, and it very much steals the spotlight away from a positive announcement.
While news of the drama pours in, the gamers continue to attempt an answer. Some tracks get dropped: Aerith’s Theme from FFVII, Hollow from FFVII Remake, On Our Way from FFV, Melodies of Life from FFIX, and Eyes on Me from FFVIII. Stand up for the original FFXII boss theme for best music; totally true. Others list Beauty’s Wicked Wiles, Forza Finale, Home Sweet Home from FFV, and tracks from FFXIV like Flow and Coming Home. Great reminders of how vast and diverse Square Enix‘s musical library is. But those sincere answers are in the midst of a world of controversy.
Then there’s the Discord server. According to some replies, the mods are accused of banning newcomers and stealing the gift cards-whaaat? If true, it’s a big yikes. It turns what should be a nice celebration into a scam, the very last thing you’d want an official Square Enix community to do. One user claimed they were about to buy a ton of Square Enix games but are holding out until Kate gets fired. Mind-boggling is how fast it switched from a music celebration to a full boycott threat.
Square Enix so far remains mute on these accusations, at least within this thread. That silence, with a big silence, was noted by another user. It’s a tricky situation for any company: to address every complaint would, many times, just fuel the discussions, but ignoring it entirely could make it worse for them. So now the official tweet remains at the top, promoting the giveaway amidst the burning comments.
This makes one happy to see happen despite all the chaos-the passion that’s alive for Square Enix music. The songs mentioned span decades of gaming, going from the old PS1 era tunes to recent hits from FFXIV and FFVII Remake. This speaks very strongly by proving those were scores that really made the impact in the lives of gamers across the globe. Adversely to all these dramas, there is a brighter light of presence generated from within that will lead to Square Enix Music shortly.
In conclusion, the whole situation is testimony that some mess is what some online communities can be. Originally, just a celebration, it fast turns into the stage where deeper issues are addressed. Balancing community management and addressing serious accusations weighs heavy on Square Enix‘s shoulders. Hopefully, they will figure it out without pushing fans away, seeing as it is the music that brings everyone together in the first place. Or at least, they should.
So there you go, if game music interests you, definitely take a peek. But, you’ll want to reside in calm waters for now. Keep an eye on how Square Enix is going to tackle this, for this might very well set a new precedent on how the corporate world of gaming will address internal controversies from here onward. Those beats coming from Liberi Fatali of FFVIII will stay litness no matter what, even on Xbox.
