The global video games industry has been rocked by an unprecedented number of layoffs this year. While Japan has mostly held strong, the closure of Tango Gameworks (developers of Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush) last week, has shown that no one is truly safe. Could Square Enix be next?
Layoffs in America and Europe
Earlier this week, Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu announced that the American and European teams will be hit with layoffs that will be processed gradually over the course of the month and take place across various departments. No numbers have been shared but according to VGC, it’s likely to affect publishing, IT and Square Enix’s Collective indie games divisions.
A Non-Exclusive Square Enix
The company has been struggling financially. In the last financial year, sales for its digital entertainment division (including video games) rose by 2.6%, but overall profit fell by 15.8%. This is despite what was considered a relatively strong content year for the company, with titles such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster and Foamstars all being released.
All of this has led to the company revealing its new business plan called “Square Enix Reboots, and Awakens,” which will see Square Enix pursue a multi-platform strategy across Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation and Windows PC. While Square Enix’s titles have been present across these platforms, the business has been known for signing exclusivity deals with Sony. This bold statement seems to mark the end of that era.
At the time of writing, we haven’t heard any news of any Japan-based Square Enix teams being affected, presumably due to Japan’s extremely tight employment laws.
