ShareThis
It’s a bad week to be for video game CEOs; first EA’s John Riccitiello stepped down and now Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada has resigned due to major losses for the fiscal year ending on March 31. The position will be passed to Yosuke Matsuda who will oversee restructuring as Square hopes to reverse its fortunes following two consecutive years of negative numbers. This year’s losses amounted to roughly $106 million USD and has primarily been blamed on underwhelming performance of major console releases.
Most of Square’s efforts on Nintendo platforms have been on 3DS, with Dragon Quest X being the notable exception. However, the last year has also seen the Japanese company’s continued change of focus on Western games. Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, and Hitman: Absolution were all released during this time, and while they all outperformed most games commercially and critically, it apparently wasn’t quite enough. It’s also worth noting that Square Enix has also spent the last year reworking the disastrous failure that was Final Fantasy XIV.
Overall it seems like Square Enix can’t catch a break with its biggest franchises; recent Final Fantasy games have generated mixed reactions from the fanbase, and now it appears as though its major investment in western developers has yet to pay off. Hopefully the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Evolution — The Directors Cut for Wii U will be a worthy enough game to generate the attention and sales Square Enix needs.
Source: Nintendo Life
