Square Enix: ‘It’s crucial for us to expand globally’

Following a report in the Financial Times earlier this week saying the company was looking to find partners in the West, Square Enix has moved to clarify its stance saying it plans to find more diverse content to publisher and more distribution channels.

“It is crucial for us to expand our businesses on a global basis,” said Yoichi Wada, president and representative director of Square Enix said in a statement sent to Develop.

“At this point, our revenue from sales of games for console and handheld devices in overseas markets such as North America, the PAL territories and Asia accounts for about 50 per cent of the total revenue in this segment. Given the fact that the size of overseas markets is now more than three times as large as the domestic market, we recognize numerous growth opportunities."

Wada explained that development deals are distribution – rather than finding a publishing partner as it is already a publisher – are key for its expansion: "Our strategy to seize such opportunities is two-fold; (i) strengthen our own distribution channels developed by our local subsidiaries in these geographic areas, and (ii) diversify our content in accordance with user preferences in each area."

He added: "Through these strategic initiatives, our initial goal within a time frame of three to five years is to raise our foreign sales ratio for console/handheld games from its current 50 per cent level to approximately 75 per cent. We shall continue our effort to better serve overseas markets.”