Square Enix is making the strategic decision to streamline its gaming lineup in order to prioritize and deliver even higher quality experiences

In recent years, Square Enix has been releasing games at an impressive pace, rivaling the speed at which Marvel launches its Disney+ shows. We previously addressed the company’s perplexing schedule in 2022 in an attempt to understand the inner workings of the Japanese firm.

As we approach 2024, an interesting Q&A from Square Enix’s financial briefing in November 2023 sheds light on their plans to streamline their lineup in order to prioritize higher quality. This move, attributed to Genki, shows their commitment to delivering top-notch experiences.

Takashi Kiryu, the President and Representative Director of the company, responds to a question about Square Enix’s challenges in managing its resources across multiple projects:

“It has less to do with our development function and more to do with the numerous entries in our lineup. I want to structure our development function so that we are able to ensure higher quality from each title by slimming down our lineup.”

When questioned about the timing of the decision, Kiryu provided further insight:

“As our customers’ needs and the types of devices available have diversified, we have tried to produce hits by developing a wide variety of titles rather than by focusing only on certain ones. I believe that this has resulted in the splintering of our resource pool.

“Meanwhile, there have been clear winners and losers among the major titles released recently in the gaming market, and it has become possible for even indies titles to make their presence felt. The market is increasingly polarized between blockbuster and indie titles, but I feel that we have developed many titles that fell somewhere in the middle. I want to make clearer distinctions going forward.”

After going through Kiryu’s remarks, games such as Various Daylife and Harvestella come to mind, games that managed to attract a dedicated fanbase but didn’t quite hit it big in terms of sales.

On the other hand, it seems that Square Enix is not solely interested in churning out blockbuster hits but instead aims to develop a wide variety of top-notch games that cater to different audiences and achieve a satisfactory level of success. Only time will reveal the outcome of this endeavor.