Square Enix confirms US, EU layoffs as part of restructuring

[Gamernyc78]

Square Enix confirms US, Europe layoffs as part of restructuring | VGC

Publishing, IT, and Square Enix’s Collective indie games label are affected…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Square Enix is set to make an unconfirmed number of layoffs as part of its ongoing company restructuring, it told staff in an internal meeting on Monday, VGC understands.

According to people who were in attendance, Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu said that both the company’s American and European arms would be hit with layoffs, which will happen over the course of the next month.

The scale of the layoffs wasn’t shared, but staff were told that people working in publishing, IT, and Square Enix’s Collective indie games division would be predominantly affected

 

[Luffy123]

honestly could still see Sony acquire them and have them occupy the same role as Bungie

 

[Gamernyc78]

honestly could still see Sony acquire them and have them occupy the same role as Bungie

Who knows.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

honestly could still see Sony acquire them and have them occupy the same role as Bungie

Why? SIE would just layoff employees of their own to make room, and the thing PlayStation needs more of (IMO) are exclusives. Buying a 3P pub just to keep them multiplat would just speedrun a 3P future for SIE themselves.

I mean just look at Xbox; buying Zenimax and especially ABK cemented them needing to go fully multiplat to make the numbers work out. How would it be different for SIE?
I'd rather SIE just foster organic 2P co-development of AA exclusives with Square-Enix (since Square-Enix themselves seem to not want to do those games, and SIE need more exclusives to fill release gaps on console), and acquire independent 3P studios like Level 5 or Vanillaware, maybe Arc System Works etc. Studios that can cover clear gaps in their software lineup.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

Sadly makes sense, they've canned a lot of titles as part of the restructuring so they need less people on the western publishing/marketing and other miscellaneous side of things.

The layoffs this year continue.
We're not even at the half point and we're almost at the same number as last year.

 

[Entropi]

That's so sad. I hope everyone affected finds a better workplace.

 

[Luffy123]

Why? SIE would just layoff employees of their own to make room, and the thing PlayStation needs more of (IMO) are exclusives. Buying a 3P pub just to keep them multiplat would just speedrun a 3P future for SIE themselves.

I mean just look at Xbox; buying Zenimax and especially ABK cemented them needing to go fully multiplat to make the numbers work out. How would it be different for SIE?
I'd rather SIE just foster organic 2P co-development of AA exclusives with Square-Enix (since Square-Enix themselves seem to not want to do those games, and SIE need more exclusives to fill release gaps on console), and acquire independent 3P studios like Level 5 or Vanillaware, maybe Arc System Works etc. Studios that can cover clear gaps in their software lineup.

cause the amount of fat Square themselves are cutting

it means Final Fantasy is now a Sony IP and they can turn it into a multi media franchise

I would rather they do the same thing you said in your last paragraph but the narrative that they won't be acquired is off basis when they're showing everything Sony's new strategy is going to entail going forward tbh

 

[Systemshock2023]

Lots of wishful thinking on this thread.

 

[Luffy123]

Lots of wishful thinking on this thread.

From who

 

[Cool hand luke]

Oof life comes at you fast. Maybe it wasn't such a good move

Square Enix goes multiplatform, focus on quality then quantity

As I & many been saying PlayStation days are counting. People keep underestimating Nintendo but when you see many 3rd party release on Nintendo & you have Nintendo owns permanent exclusive choosing Nintendo Switch 2 over a PS6 will be extremely easy not to mention PlayStation games already on PC...

icon-era.com

 

[Dabaus]

Sony is REALLY lucky that Microsoft brass is looking hard a the xbox division because this type of drama is exact thing Phil preys on. Companies associated with PlayStation having financial issues.

 

[ethomaz]

They are doing cost control.
Let's see if it won't affect quality of their titles.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

They are doing cost control.
Let's see if it won't affect quality of their titles.

The western branch was mostly in charge of publishing/marketing as well as the indie label which really only has had one noteworthy success(Powerwash Simulator).
It's the only place where cuts makes sense, they can't really lay off many developers in Japan considering those folks are going to be needed to work on those internal projects.

 

[Would_you_kindly]

They just need to stop making massive flops like chocobo gp , forespoken & foamstars lol

 

[Gamernyc78]

These ppl don't know how to read the market at all.

 

[Would_you_kindly]

Because Sony told them to make shit games like the ones I mentioned , they also told them to focus on nfts didn't you know

 

[Entropi]

Sony is REALLY lucky that Microsoft brass is looking hard a the xbox division because this type of drama is exact thing Phil preys on. Companies associated with PlayStation having financial issues.

Phil must feel like a rabid dog on a chain right now. Imagine if he has stayed in the shadows. MS would acquire SE so Phil can finish the job of running it to the ground

 

[Dabaus]

Because Sony told them to make shit games like the ones I mentioned , they also told them to focus on nfts didn't you know

FF14 isnt in the top 50 played xbox games so...thanks xbox?

 

[Eternal_Wings]

honestly could still see Sony acquire them and have them occupy the same role as Bungie

That would be quite hilarious. After all the gloating then Sony proceeds to buy them. The meltdowns would be on a crazy level.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

cause the amount of fat Square themselves are cutting

Or maybe that's just because they want to be a more efficient 3P multiplatform publisher?

it means Final Fantasy is now a Sony IP

No, this is cap. Square-Enix owns the Final Fantasy IP, not Sony. And with today's news, it's highly likely at least Switch 2 and PC/Steam will get versions of FF VII and XVI. Even Xbox will likely get a port of XVI at this point at least. Just because the games have released on PS consoles first (with shrinking exclusivity windows) doesn't mean they're Sony IPs.

and they can turn it into a multi media franchise

They could still do that. Though really, with the way things seem to be going I'd rather Sony bring back a couple of their own JRPG IPs, and build those up in both gaming and with transmedia stuff (like original anime & manga series).

Square-Enix doesn't need Sony to make FF more multi-media an IP and Sony/SIE can use their money to better enable their own equivalent IP forward (and have a replacement for FF that's a JRPG exclusive for PlayStation).

I would rather they do the same thing you said in your last paragraph but the narrative that they won't be acquired is off basis when they're showing everything Sony's new strategy is going to entail going forward tbh

So you're okay with Sony's multiplatform strategy? Because I'll be honest: I'm not. This PC strategy of theirs has left the console with very few actual exclusives, with PC gamers getting the better end of the deal as long as they have a bit of patience, and as time goes forward they may not even need that patience. Smaller windows of exclusivity for 1P games means the same thing with 3P exclusives.

Day 1 PC for all 1P games means you can kiss PlayStation 3P exclusives goodbye. Which is exactly what people like Paul Tassi, Micheal Patcher, Destin, Colteastwood, Ryan McCaffrey, Bloomberg Takashi, or places like ResetERA, XboxERA etc, or other platforms like Steam, want. That's why they're constantly encouraging Sony to put their games on Steam and do away with staggered releases. Maybe that strategy works for a 3P publisher, but it kills a platform holder who has hardware to sell.