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In the midst of the massive earthquake of layoffs in the gaming industry, Square Enix, the company that was once famous for the Final Fantasy series, has not been spared, and it is facing unprecedented challenges. According to VGC, Square Enix announced at an internal meeting that layoffs would be carried out as part of the company's restructuring plan, and although the exact number has not yet been announced, the decision has undoubtedly made waves among employees.
Elsewhere, the gaming industry continues to be hit by layoffs and other cuts. Last week, Xbox shut down the famous Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin. Publishers such as PlayStation, EA and Take-Two Interactive have also laid off employees.
Dubbed "Square Enix Reboots and Awakens" by the publisher, the SE program outlines a three-year strategy that it hopes will lead to "long-term growth". In the latest financial report, SE's profit fell by nearly 70% from last year, in part due to "a loss of 220.87 million yen ($141 million) in handling content, which is a huge loss."
The company said the losses were related to the cancellation of projects that were not in line with its future strategy, suggesting that they were either tied to a single platform or overly reliant on external developers.
Square Enix's U.S. and European subsidiaries bore the brunt of the sudden storm, with layoffs expected to kick off next month. Employees in publishing, IT, and indie games will be hit hard. The announcement came as a shock to many employees, who will receive formal notice within the week, while in the UK, employees will enter a month-long consultation period, and in the US, they may leave by June.
(Photo: Square Enix Office Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo)
The news of the layoffs is not an isolated event, it is closely linked to the company's quarterly financial results. Square Enix said it plans to "rebuild its overseas business unit from the ground up" and optimise the cost of its offices in Europe and the US through structural reforms. This strategic realignment comes as the company's latest financial report shows a significant decline in profits, partly due to a large loss in handling content.
To address this challenge, Square Enix's new president, Takashi Kiryu, has been undergoing a massive restructuring of the company's development efforts since taking office in June 2023. His goal is to reverse the recent poor sales of big games and promote a new group of creators to executive positions in Japan, while reassessing the producers' influence on the project.
In addition, Square Enix has released a new medium-term business plan called "Square Enix Reboots and Awakens", which aims to achieve long-term growth through a three-year strategy. At the heart of the program is to push AAA games to multi-platform to reach more customers, including Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
This decision has attracted widespread attention and discussion in the industry. On the one hand, the news of the layoffs has left many worried about the future of Square Enix; On the other hand, the new strategic plan also brings new expectations to the market. The citation of social hotspots shows that this incident has not only caused a shock in the gaming industry, but also caused wider social concern, especially in terms of employment safety and corporate social responsibility.
According to VGC, Square Enix's move is undoubtedly a gamble that could reshape the company's future trajectory. In the midst of this change, can layoffs and new strategies help Square Enix regain its former glory? All this has yet to be tested by time.
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Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd
简介:SQUARE(株式会社SQUARE、(SQUARE CO., LTD.)),是Japan曾经存在的游戏软件公司。 (Previous) Co., Ltd. (日语: 株式会社エンニックス,英语:ENIX Corporation), 曾是Japan的游戏软件製作公司, publisher. April 1, 2003 SQUARE 与ENIX合并成为史克克尔艾尼克斯公司.
Founded: 2003
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
代表作品：Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Life is strange