Just weeks after confirming it was selling off its western studios and IP to Embracer Group for $300m, Square Enix has revealed plans to “establish new studios” and acquire others.
The news came as part of the company’s recent financial presentation, which revealed that one of Square Enix’s “medium-term business strategy” initiatives is to “boost game development capabilities by establishing new studios, [mergers and acquisitions]etc.”
As spotted by Axios’ Stephen Totilo (thanks, NME), the company also revealed that the “objectives behind divestiture of select overseas studios and IP” – that is, the reason why it sold off its three western studios – was to “achieve sustained growth through selection and concentration of company sources, better align overseas publishing function with organization in Tokyo, and transform group business portfolio”.
Square Enix, which recently sold off three studios, hopes to establish some new studios pic.twitter.com/DoeIC0NZtX
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) May 13, 2022
The latter point is particularly interesting as it once again lays out Square Enix’s well-publicized blockchain plans too, which states the firm will “accelerate launch and monetization of new businesses by moving forward with investments in focus fields (blockchain, AI, and the cloud )”.
The news came as part of Square Enix’s financial results, which also revealed the company had been kept afloat thanks to Final Fantasy 14. As Ed reported at the time, net sales in the MMO sector increased “not only to a sharp rise in the number of monthly paying subscribers for Final Fantasy 14 but also to the release of an expansion pack for the title”, too.
Last October we reported that Final Fantasy 14 was the most profitable game in the series’ history. The release of Endwalker in December has only boosted that.