Square Enix Cutting Down Games Lineup For Consistent Quality

Expert Verified By

Going For Quality Over Quantity With Future Games!

Story Highlights
  • Square Enix is taking a quality-over-quantity approach to its future games.
  • President Takashi Kiryu wants to draw a clear line between AAA and indie releases.
  • The publisher will, therefore, create fewer AA games moving forward.

In the past, Square Enix has focused on producing lots of content across its franchises to meet the demand from consumers. However, this is set to change in 2024 and beyond.

In addition to experimenting with AI in gaming, President Takashi Kiryu states that the company hopes to focus on fewer games in the future.

Why it matters: Square Enix is currently among Japan’s leading game publishers. As the owner of renowned franchises like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and more, the publisher faces the challenging task of balancing games for these beloved IPs.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

According to Square Enix’s latest financial results briefing, the company hopes to ensure a consistent level of quality across its games. When asked about his plans to achieve this goal in the future, the President outlined intentions to:

“Ensure higher quality for each title by slimming down the lineup.”

He elaborated that Square Enix identified clear winners and losers among its IPs. Of these games, Final Fantasy is clearly the publisher’s biggest asset, motivating the studio to release games more frequently for this series.

The President also acknowledged that indie games are not to be underestimated. He claims that such games can make their presence felt in the market, as evidenced by the success of IPs like Octopath Traveler.

One major goal for President Takashi Kiryu is to set a clear distinction between indie and AAA releases. As he states, the publisher has often found itself releasing games that fall in the middle of these industries.

Games in the Nier franchise can be considered examples of this approach. While the likes of Nier Automata are among the publisher’s most famous titles, they did not receive AAA budgets in the past.

Nier Automata

This will no longer be the case moving forward as the company works toward focusing on one market or the other, likely resulting in most of the attention diverting toward the AAA games industry.

This focus has already been hinted at on numerous occasions, but the President’s comments on indie games are also encouraging. Though Square Enix might pursue projects like Octopath Traveler less frequently in the future, it won’t be abandoning this market altogether.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Tomb Raider Developer Crystal Dynamics Is The Latest Studio To Face Layoffs

Crystal Dynamics, the developer studio behind Tomb Raider games, has just announced that it is cutting its workforce.

CD Projekt Red: Single-Player Games Like The Witcher & Cyberpunk Are Here to Stay

The co-CEO of CD Projekt Red believes that the demand for single-player games like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk Sequel will not disappear.

5 Out of 8 Major AAA Japanese Studios Already Hit Record-Breaking Share Prices This Year

Japan's AAA presence in the gaming industry has gotten stronger, as 5 of the 8 companies in the region reached record-breaking share prices.

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Tops PlayStation Pre-Orders

With Indiana Jones and the Great Circle now available to pre-order for the PS5, the game is topping the PlayStation charts.

Rocksteady’s Next Batman Game Being Developed Using Unreal Engine 5

Rocksteady's latest job openings confirm that the team is working with Unreal Engine 5 for its next AAA project.