Square Enix: the new strategy focuses on multiplatform games and a greater focus on quality

Square Enix one announced new market strategy for the videogame sector for the medium-long term, which will begin in the current fiscal year and will continue until the one ending on 31 March 2027, which compared to the past will focus more on the quality of productions to the detriment of quantity and with a multiplatform approach which, especially for AAA titles, will gravitate around PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and PC platforms.

Titled “Square Enix Reboots and Awakens: 3 Years of Foundation-Laying for Long-Term Growth”, Square Enix’s new strategy aims to overcome the difficulties encountered previouslyincluding the low profits of “HD games”, the slowdown of the segment of mobile and PC titles via browser and the less than flawless management of the numerous franchises by the Japanese company.

To do this, the company intends to review its strategy and lay a solid foundation in the coming years thanks to which the company will expand its business in the future, focusing more on the quality of the productions (rather than their quantity), reaching a wider audience thanks to a multiplatform approach (as you surely know, some games were published exclusively or on a limited circle of devices, see Final Fantasy 16 and the remakes of Final Fantasy 7).

The new strategy in brief

Square Enix has summarized its new strategy for the next three years in four main pillars, which we have summarized below or which if you wish you can read in full in the document published by the company, at this address.

1. Focus on developing titles that deliver “fun” that only Square Enix can create. The goal is to move from one a quantity-based strategy to one that aims to ensure quality of productions and is able to “regularly release AAA titles from major franchises to maintain and strengthen the fan base” and at the same time increase the success rate of “SD games” by launching a carefully curated selection of titles.
2. Switch to one aggressive multiplatform strategy, which will involve the Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox and PC platforms, with the aim of creating a situation where “more customers can enjoy the titles” of Square Enix, as well as attracting a greater number of new users when a new game launches. As for “SD games” for iOS and Android, there will be plans to bring them to PC as well. Not only that, Square Enix also aims to expand its franchises by reaching new markets and new media formats (let’s say cinema, television, comics and so on).
3. Launch initiatives to create further basic stability, “rebuilding from scratch” the company divisions abroad and reviewing human resource allocation and investment strategies to balance team creativity and productivity in Japan.
4. Allocate capital taking into account the balance between growth investments and shareholder returns, allocating a maximum of 100 billion yen (around 600 million euros) of investments (for growth and to repay shareholders) over a three-year period. Growth investments will aim to increase enterprise value and possibly expand Square Enix’s business segments to create greater stability.