Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal were purportedly sold because they “cannibalized” business from the larger firm, and Square Enix has stated that it is considering selling interests in some of its fully owned game developers.
Square Enix, according to information obtained by games industry expert David Gibson from the publisher’s latest financial call, views the unforeseen sales of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal as “Stage 1” of its adjustments to the firm.
Stage two will reportedly see Square Enix evaluating its studio portfolio and determining whether it should maintain complete ownership or permit other companies to acquire interests in those firms.
According to Gibson, this would offer the advantage of making it easier for Square Enix to distribute assets among studios, with the intention of being able to focus “abundant resources on Japanese titles.”
Gibson anticipates companies like Sony, Tencent, and Nexon to be keen on purchasing portions of Square Enix’s studios. The administration has also shown a desire to hire new developers to expand its development roster.
Square Enix supposedly explained on the request that it opted to sell off its elevated foreign developers because companies like Crystal Dynamics “cannibalized” from the remainder of the group, apparently making it more challenging to manage funds all across the entire development portfolio – likely as a result of the expensive creation of games like Marvel’s Avengers.
The surviving Square Enix advancement studios often include four Creative Business Units (which create games like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and the recent “HD-2D” line of games), Luminous Productions (Forspoken), Tokyo RPG Factory (I Am Setsuna), Square Enix London Mobile (Tomb Raider Reloaded), and others.
In Square Enix’s most recent income, sales revenue for its gaming section decreased year over year, mirroring the pattern of the vast bulk of game studios post-pandemic.
However, the phenomenally popular Final Fantasy 14 once more defied expectations by posting an increase in gross sales thanks to a boost in the number of the page dedicated.
