Japanese publishing giant Square Enix made a lot of headlines recently when it announced that it would be offloading most of its western studios alongside some of its most valuable IPs such as the likes of Tomb Raider and Deus Ex to Embracer Group, partially so they can pump more money into the NFT and blockchain sectors (among other things, of course). Now though, its most recent earnings report seems to indicate that plans might have changed along the way.
Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has said that the proceeds from the sale will instead be used to invest in creating solid IPs and better development capabilities for its core gaming segment. Square Enix might also undertake fundraising efforts for investment in other domains, which might entail establishing a CVC. Matsuda also explained that the decision to sell off its Western studios was mainly to streamline its portfolio of offerings for its overseas audiences.
“Rather than using the proceeds from the divestiture in new investment domains such as NFT and blockchain, we intend to use them primarily to fund our efforts to foster solid IP and to enhance our development capabilities in our core Digital Entertainment segment,” Matsuda said.
“Our intention is to undertake fundraising efforts for our new investment domains separate from those for our core business, and we are considering various possibilities, including potentially establishing a CVC. We especially revisited our studio and title portfolios from the perspective of stepping up our offering of online titles that we develop for the North American and the European market.”
Furthermore, Matsuda said that the investments in these key areas will help shift the company’s focus to create games that align with its internal strategies- including but not limited to a new game in the Just Cause franchise.
“We want to focus on creating new titles that align with our strategy, including ones that leverage new IP. The Just Cause franchise will remain our IP, and we are at work developing a new title in the franchise,” he said.
Basically, it seems that Square Enix will be mostly focusing its efforts on creating online-oriented experiences for its Western audiences, as stated by Matsuda in a Q&A session.
“We will not necessarily be focusing exclusively on online titles, but they do represent a key area of interest for us going forward, and we intend to develop titles that offer greater scalability and flexibility,” he said.
Square Enix’s highly-anticipated Final Fantasy 16 also received a new trailer recently- read more on that through here.
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