Game news Square Enix: towards other sales of studios and licenses following Tomb Raider? “Phase 2” begins
Published on 05/08/2022 at 18:01
Like many other companies currently looking back on the first half of the past year, Square Enix and its executives recently met with the goal of initiating a restructuring. After last May’s sales that shook the video game world, the Japanese publisher would begin “Phase 2” of its plan.
Summary
- After the sales, it’s time for “Phase 2” for Square Enix
- Square Enix, the return to grace of Japanese games?
After the sales, it’s time for “Phase 2” for Square Enix
If one is sometimes surprised to learn of the acquisition of certain studios by a large video game company, it is all the more so when one of them sells its companies and its licenses without warning. This is a bit like what happened at the very beginning of last May when Square Enix announced that the Embracer group had just bought the studios from him behind the last Tomb Raider et Deus Ex as well as, therefore, the licenses that went with it ! This decision has given rise to a great deal of misunderstanding, particularly on the side of the former CEO of the Japanese firm who did not mince his words regarding this choice.
In short, it was difficult to clearly distinguish the intentions of Square Enix at this stage. What is more, this decision to let go of the ballast on the side of its Western studios had also had the consequence of raising real fears among players. On the occasion of a recent conference call bringing together the executives of the company, we might understand that this sale, for a pittance, was only the beginning of a new plan from the Japanese publisher.
Square Enix, the return to grace of Japanese games?
Thanks to analyst David Gibson, we were able to obtain today new clues regarding the strategy that Square Enix intends to use with its development studios. The company would have chosen to sell stakes in some of its studios in order to begin “Phase 2” of its plan. The first phase corresponds to the sale of the studios mentioned above last May. Faced with rising development costs, the editor is going to have to show himself more selective when concentrating its resources and intends to proceed with a review of its studio portfolio ».
5) Phase 2 = Some studios will remain 100% while others will change (equity method or JV), will also look to explore to expand the studio portfolio
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) August 5, 2022
Rest assured, it won’t be a big cleanup at Square Enix. Some studios will continue to remain 100% owned by the publisher, but others will change because, paradoxically, the company wants to expand on a very specific point. In fact, there will be an impact on European and American studios with the aim that Square Enix can allocate more resources, and mainly, for the development of Japanese titles. Overall, the publisher wants ” sell stakes in its studios to others “(Hello Sony) so” to improve the efficiency of its capital ».
6) Phase 2 – Biggest impact is on EU/US studios around large titles, will be able to allocate resources mainly to Japan titles.
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) August 5, 2022
In his long list of messages, David Gibson emphasizes the aspect ” extraordinaire of this decision, insofar as Square Enix is not short of cash (1.4 billion dollars available and no debt, a good way to expand while retaining what he has). By the way, this desire to focus on Japanese titles begins to be felt when looking at the publisher’s release schedule : six Japanese games by the end of the year, including the release of the title Harvestella et the recent announcement of the remake of Tactics Ogre (which can be seen below).
