Struggling massively multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy 14 has "greatly damaged" the brand, Square Enix has admitted.

At a Tokyo press conference today reported by Sponichi (translated by Andriasang), Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada said of FF14: "The Final Fantasy brand has been greatly damaged."

Wada insisted it will continue to work to improve the game, which will update with a new patch on 4th October.

"We'll continue with our reform work, which basically amounts to fully redoing the game, and hope to revive the FF14 that should have been released," Wada said.

Square Enix's MMO has had a tough first year since its September 2010 launch. The publisher decided to temporarily waive subscription fees in the wake of poor reviews and general user discontent, and even blamed the game for its poor 2010 financial results.

Eurogamer's Final Fantasy 14 review returned a 5/10.