President A Square Enix, Takashi Kiru, suggests that significant changes will occur in the company’s development portfolio. According to Kiru, the company will aim to release fewer titles but explore more diverse genres, breaking with the tradition of its great RPG franchises.
In a question-and-answer session with investors that took place in November and was recently published in English, Kiru asked several questions about the future of the company’s portfolio. Speaking about the challenges to achieve sustainable growth, he noted the need to diversify the portfolio and improve the marketing strategy.
Kiru emphasized that despite strong IPs such as Dragon Quest in Final Fantasy, the company was too dependent on certain play styles or genres. He acknowledged the growing diversity of player tastes and the popularity of more casual games such as Success Powerwash simulator. The intention is to strengthen the internal capabilities of development teams for new projects and possibly consider acquisitions to expand the variety of games.
The need for a more diverse portfolio focuses on breaking with the tradition of mid-budget role-playing games, which have not always enjoyed great success. Kiru expressed his desire to structure the development function to ensure higher quality in each title, reducing quantity in favor of excellence. “The market is increasingly polarized between blockbusters and indie titles, but we’re developing too many titles that fall somewhere in between.”
Although Square Enix Determined to take on new challenges and genres, Kiryu recognizes the importance of his successful RPG franchises. However, he seeks a balance between large productions and smaller, more diverse titles to adapt to the evolution of the market and its consumers.
