Square Enix was a notable client of Kim Belair’s Sweet Baby Inc. This narrative design company contracts with gaming studios to consult on story elements, often injecting DEI into the narrative. The company appeared prominently on SBI’s website, though recently Square Enix vanished from the list entirely.
While there’s no definitive list of
Sweet Baby Inc‘s influence on Square, many point to censorship actions taken by the company in recent years, like restricting the size of Tifa’s chest in Final Fantasy VII, as proof of the narrative firm’s involvement.
Sweet Baby Inc. wasn’t the only narrative design firm Square worked with. It also contracted Black Girl Gamers to work on noted flop
Forspoken. Square Enix’s representative director Yosuke Matsuda even admitted that sales for
Forspoken were weak back in February 2023.
This failure was so extreme that Square closed down Forspoken’s studio, Luminous Productions, in February 2023.
It seemed to many as though Square learned the old adage, “go woke, go broke” the hard way. It saw a 70% decrease in profits following its work with Sweet Baby Inc. and Black Girl Gamers. Soon after, Square announced plans to enhance productivity and shift its focus from quantity to quality, citing a commitment to creating “unforgettable experiences.”
Still though, major releases like
Final Fantasy XVI and
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth underperformed, leaving the studio in dire straits.
