Square-Enix Goes Console Agnostic, Working On Downloadable Games

Despite their affinity for re-releasing their classic games, Square-Enix has been up to a lot more than business as usual. Between announcing Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360, opening their first US development studio in LA, and creating at that studio their first game implementing middleware with The Last Remnant's use of Unreal Engine 3, Square-Enix is changing to become a more global company. Square-Enix US president John Yamamoto gives some insight into their philosophy for the changes.

With increased competition from overseas developers, Japanese companies must recognize the need to appeal to a broader audience.

Japanese videogame software sales represent less than 15 per cent of the global market. It's my job to communicate to our headquarters in Japan that the western market is growing rapidly and that it is extremely important for Square Enix to be a major global player.

And how does a company branch out into the broader global market? By releasing games on a broader selection of systems of course.

Not so long ago the PS2 dominated the market so if we developed an exclusive game for PS2 then we could enjoy a very good profit. But that time is already over. To maximize and spread our games to as many users as possible I think we have to go to multiformat - the Xbox 360, PS3 and also the PC as well.

The Japanese market is very strong and back when we could concentrate on developing games for just one console, business was very good. But the one-console market is over.

This multiformat strategy is already taking effect with Final Fantasy XIII, The Last Remnant, and most likely Star Ocean 4 coming out for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. But it doesn't stop there. Yamamoto also noted that one of the focuses of the new LA studio is going to be downloadable games, citing Xbox Live, WiiWare, and PSN all as services that Square-Enix will be releasing games for. They will also be experimenting more with middleware solutions after the success of working with Unreal Engine 3 for The Last Remnant. What will come from the downloadable games is anyone's guess. Will it be classic Square-Enix games ported for the thousandth time to a new system? An episodic RPG perhaps? Einhander 2? Only time will tell.

I've been expecting Square-Enix to go multiplatform in this console generation, and I'm happy to see that they're actually making an official statement supporting it. Development costs are just too high for a company to risk missing potential customers by releasing a game for only one system. Fanboys and Fangirls may whine that a series is no longer exclusive to their system of choice, but if they're a true fan of the games then it shouldn't make a difference. And that goes for all games, not just Final Fantasy.

Square Enix LA studio to focus on digital titles [gamesindustry.biz]