31 Oct. (Portaltic/EP) –
Square Enix has reiterated its interest in games based on ‘blockchain’ technology and has acknowledged that it is looking to the global stage to boost both the growth of its users and the sales of its video games.
“The Japanese market is no longer enough to reach a level of income that allows us to recover our investment in development and generate profits, and, therefore, we must focus our development efforts based on the assumption that we have to be successful in the global market”, said the president and representative director of the company, Yosuke Matsuda, in his report to shareholders.
The group plans diversify its offer and offer “a more robust product portfolio”, that does not depend so much on the development of important titles. Within these plans are the sales of the Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix Montréal studios to the Embracer Group, responsible for franchises such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain.
Matsuda has also referred to decentralized games, based on ‘blockchain’ technologya field that is still “in its infancy” but which he believes “has the potential to create new forms of gaming content.”
It is not the first time that the president of Square Enix shows his support for this technology. At the beginning of the year, in his traditional New Year’s message, Matsuda shared that with it, the self-sustaining growth of games can be allowed and diversity is encouraged, because people engage with interactive content.
“If this leads to creation of self-sufficient worlds with even greater scalability, I think we will see new types of games produced like no one has seen before,” the manager defended almost ten months later.
Matsuda has dedicated a few words to the Endwalker expansion, of the online multiplayer Final Fantasy XIV, which arrived at the end of December 2021. This new content generated high expectationswhich caused a massive increase in the user base and the saturation of the servers.
The director has confirmed that fans around the world welcomed the arrival of Endwalker with “great enthusiasm”, and that “he propelled Final Fantasy XIV to the status of the best MMO games in the world in every sense of the word.”
In contrast, the results were not so positive in the segment of smart devices and browsers. The manager attributes it to the “maturity” that some of his titles have already reached and to the lower expected performance of the new ones, although he has highlighted Dragon QuestWalk.
35 YEARS OF FINAL FANTASY
The final fantasy series celebrate this year 35th anniversary of the launch of the first title. Despite being one of the original contents of Japan, the company opted for its internationalization, and cumulative global sales amount to 173 million units, both in physical and digital format.
The future of the franchise goes through the arrival of Final Fantasy XVI in the summer of next year and for the Playstation 5 gaming platform. And also by an old acquaintance, Final Fantasy VII, which has “attracted many gamers with its epic and moving stories, fascinating characters, and its use of cutting-edge visual technologies.”
Final Fantasy VII appreciated in 1997 and has managed to sell 13.9 million units (physical and digital). Next winter, and for PlayStation 5, the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is expected, although before, on December 13, 2022, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion will do so, for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is the bet of this family of games for Android and iOS mobiles, as well as the independent titles Final Fantasy Brave ExVius and War of the Vision: Final Fantasy Brave ExVius.
DragonQuest, another veteran saga in Square Enix with 36 years behind him, has sold 85 million units globally (physical and digital), while Kingdom Hearts, With its commitment to mixing the worlds of Final Fantasy with those of Disney, which has already celebrated two decades since the launch of the first title, it accumulates 36 million units (physical and digital).
