Following sale of Western devs, Square Enix wants to acquire and establish new studios
Marie Dealessandri
Features Editor
Monday 16th May 2022
Square Enix
During its earnings call for FY2022, Square Enix detailed the business strategy behind the sale of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal to the Embracer Group.
Among its objectives, Square Enix said that the sale of the studios will help it "optimise [its] resource allocation" so it can develop titles that better appeal to "customer needs while simultaneously bolstering [its] profitability," which could be seen as a hint to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers missing sale targets in the past couple of years.
The Japanese company aims to transform its portfolio by "accelerating" investment in "focus fields" such as blockchain, AI, and cloud-based services.
It also mentioned the objective of "better aligning overseas publishing function with [the] organisation in Tokyo," adding that it wants to "maximise worldwide revenue from future titles launched by group studios in Japan and abroad by revisiting [its] existing governance structure and reporting lines and advancing integrated group management."
Square Enix added that, to reach these objectives, it intends to strengthen its IP ecosystem, most notably by "establishing new studios" and doing M&As, but by creating new IP as well. It also wants to bolster its publishing structure by appointing a chief publishing officer, among others.
Later in the call, Square Enix detailed its blockchain initiatives, and the success of its first "season" of NFTs linked to the comic Shi‐San‐Sei Million Arthur, which ended in March 2022.
"Encouraged by the results and feedback from our NFT business, we have decided to produce a second season," Square Enix said. "Our plan is to incorporate game content into
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