News ► New Square Enix president outlines plans for the future

[Gexus]

Yosuke Matsuda, the newly announced president of Square Enix who will be replacing Yoichi Wada in a few months time recently outlined his plans for the future of the company, hoping to "cast all of [Square Enix's] resources" towards extending what makes it successful along with "thoroughly squeezing out what doesn’t."

People have speculated about Matsuda's leadership in the company, hoping the future would look brighter under his command. Under Wada's leadership, the company announced a net income loss of 13 billion yen, followed by his resignation.

Matsuda's plans are outlined in the most recent Square Enix Holdings briefing session, in which he states that he plans on reviewing all Square Enix duties, business and assets on a zero-based budgeting standpoint.

"Due to the radical change of environment, I’d like to fundamentally review what works and what doesn’t work for our company, then cast all of our resources towards extending what makes us successful and thoroughly squeezing out what doesn’t."

This coincides with recent layoffs at Square Enix North America, confirmed to have taken place last week. As of yet, they seem to be the only division affected so far. Meanwhile, Phil Rogers CEO of Square Enix Europe will be made the new CEO of Square Enix Holdings.

"As far as a concrete plan on what to expect from us, I will further explain it on another briefing session in the near future, so I kindly ask for your patience. Thank you for your support."

What this means for the upcoming projects and games at Square Enix will remain unclear at least until Matsuda formally takes over the position of president in June of this year. The KINGDOM HEARTS series as a whole will undoubtedly be a part of Matsuda's reviewing process, especially with the debate which it has recieved as of late. Series director, Tetsuya Nomura's emphasis on expanding the series to various hand-held systems, instead of sticking strictly with TV consoles might thus very well be reconsidered by said reviewing process.  

Your thoughts on this? Were the layoffs necessary? Do you believe there are changes to be expected for the future of the KINGDOM HEARTS series?

Source: Siliconera, Square Enix Holdings.

 

 

[rokudamia2]

I'm pretty sureKingdom Hearts is safe. Not sure about Versus. If I were president I would say"give us a playable demo for the public at a game expo or face cancellation ". Seriously, Wada was way too soft on Nomura

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Kingdom Hearts is safe, though probably after the Xehanort Saga I doubt we'll be seeing anymore handheld titles unless they are outside of the main storyline and have little to no impact on it. SE is doing really fantastic in the handheld business as a 3rd party developer/publisher even if they don't think so, so I doubt they will actually step out of it even with fans complaining.

Anyways, considering yesterday's terrible events I am concerned over Matsuda's plan.

I'm pretty sureKingdom Hearts is safe. Not sure about Versus. If I were president I would say"give us a playable demo for the public at a game expo or face cancellation ". Seriously, Wada was way too soft on Nomura

I wouldn't say Wada was too soft. He was too trusting of his developers. He gave them so much trust he didn't think to put pressure on them, or limits. Soft would imply he let the devs walk over him and not reprimand them. If that was so, they wouldn't have fired the XIV 1.0 team.

They aren't going to can Versus after seven years of money being funneled into it. That'd be an even worse decision, but considering Nomura's on anxious feelings over Versus I think it is easy to believe it is ready to be shown off in some capacity.

 

[Theart]

Kingdom Hearts is safe, though probably after the Xehanort Saga I doubt we'll be seeing anymore handheld titles unless they are outside of the main storyline and have little to no impact on it.

I could potentially see some handheld titles in future arcs, but only ones with heavier plot relevance like BBS or DDD. I don't think the series could maintain its popularity in future arcs if there is a heavier focus on side-games than there is on the main games.

I'd also wager that future arcs will have (slightly) less convoluted plots as a result.

This arc has developed a sort of an expectancy for each new KH game to have a plot twist or revelation by the end of the game, and after all these side-stories and plot establishing games, the Xehanort Arc has gotten extremely convoluted. Die-hard fans that have been following all of the games and do outside research to read the Ultimanias know the plot well enough, but casual fans barely have a clue as to what all has gone on in the story.

Anyways, considering yesterday's terrible events I am concerned over Matsuda's plan.

Likewise. Things are definitely going to be changing at Square-Enix. Hopefully it all turns out for the best.

 

[saintsghost]

I think Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy will be fine. Final Fantasy Versus seems the most likely candidate to be the "announcement" Square Enix announced they will have at E3 when they were at the Playstation 4 reveal conference. They came on and announced they will have a Final Fantasy related announcement at E3.

I think after Kingdom Hearts 3, if the Kingdom Hearts series continues, i believe the next one will be on a large console like Playstation.

The only series I am worried over really would be "The World Ends With You", I really hope they will make a sequel and not end abandoning it altogether, with this new shake up.

also I don't believe the Kingdom Hearts series plot is all that convoluted if you think about the stories from the games in their chronological order instead of the game release order.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I could potentially see some handheld titles in future arcs, but only ones with heavier plot relevance like BBS or DDD. I don't think the series could maintain its popularity in future arcs if there is a heavier focus on side-games than there is on the main games.

I don't imagine the fanbase would be pleased with handheld games having heavy plot relevance. It was the reason people were pissed BBS was on the PSP, and KH3D on the 3DS. People seem to associate handhelds to being less important, and with the sales of KH3D it doesn't seem viable to continue placing plot relevant games on handhelds. KH3D had great sales as a 3rd party game, but to only reached less than half of their overall audience is not good. They need to start keeping it all on home consoles.

But people like Nomura, Yasue, (Tabata,) and Kando all like making fun games, handheld titles on the 3DS are selling well, so I can't imagine them dumping them altogether. Thus moving away from plot relevant games and probably to more non-relevant games. Then again either way fans will be pissed. :\

I'd also wager that future arcs will have (slightly) less convoluted plots as a result.

This is definitely a given. From the start Nomura has no idea if Kingdom Hearts would ever get a sequel, and from the way things were with the end of KH2 he probably would have been fine ending it there as well. These last few years have been an attempt to add on to a story that was never seriously thought out from the beginning. We'll see a more concise plot in the next saga...if there is a next saga. I hear Disney is cutting their loose strings as well.

Likewise. Things are definitely going to be changing at Square-Enix. Hopefully it all turns out for the best.

Definitely hoping the people who got laid-off will find jobs fast, and SE gets their act together in a way that benefits fans and the company.

The only series I am worried over really would be "The World Ends With You", I really hope they will make a sequel and not end abandoning it altogether, with this new shake up.

SE should be very aware that there is a huge demand for a sequel. It'd be near idiotic to not do it after building up its popularity again with KH3D, Solo Remix, and adding the secret image into Solo Remix.

 

[Theart]

also I don't believe the Kingdom Hearts series plot is all that convoluted if you think about the stories from the games in their chronological order instead of the game release order.

Like I said, it makes plenty of sense if you follow all the games, and it also helps to research the Ultimanias. I've been a fan of the series since the first game came out in 2002, so I understand the Xehanort Arc pretty well, but the plot has gotten so convoluted that it's really difficult for me to explain it all to other people, and there's so many games out there that it's unlikely that new fans will seek out all of the new games.

For quite a long time, it wasn't that hard to explain. Sure, it would be a rather wordy explanation, but not a difficult one to make. But by the time coded and Birth by Sleep came out, I noticed that it was becoming trickier. For example, I could say to someone new to the series: "Yeah, so Roxas is Sora's Nobody that was made when Sora sacrificed his heart in KH1, but Roxas has a heart because of a guy named Ventus that hid his heart inside Sora when Sora was just a boy." That's a bit complicated, and that's only explaining Roxas himself. Now imagine having to explain both why Sora sacrificed his Heart in the first place, then Ventus and his ordeal with Vanitas, and that's just focusing in on two of the 'Sora Clones'.

It's simple enough to talk about the series here, as most of the members here are die-hards that either have played all the games or follow the plot closely and are up to speed. Imagine trying to summarize the entire Xehanort Arc to someone completely new to the series. You can tell them just play KH1 and move on from there, but how many people will seriously seek out all of the following games:

- Kingdom Hearts 1 (PS2)
- Chain of Memories (GBA) or RE:Chain of Memories (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)
- 358/2 Days (DS)
- Birth by Sleep (PSP)
- RE:Coded (DS) *
- Dream Drop Distance (3DS)

*I didn't list the original Coded because seriously, who would actually go through the struggle to get a Japanese cell phone game?

Most people would just look for KH1 and KH2, and maybe RE:CoM. That said, S-E is being smart by releasing the REmix packages on PS3. It's a good way to collect most of the arc thus far onto one console for people to go through. However, that's still a LOT of gameplay and plot to take in. And it still doesn't change the fact that it's very difficult to explain the series thus far to newbies.

 

[vlaxmadero]

We'll see a more concise plot in the next saga...if there is a next saga. I hear Disney is cutting their loose strings as well

Ok the link doesn't work, so I am a little confused? Disney cutting loose strings? Is it possible that the end of the Xenanort Saga could also mean the end of Disney being involved in future KH titles?

 

[Jull]

Ok the link doesn't work, so I am a little confused? Disney cutting loose strings? Is it possible that the end of the Xenanort Saga could also mean the end of Disney being involved in future KH titles?​

I think what user above meant is this article (I hope)...?
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/04/03/disney-closes-game-publisher-lucasarts.aspx

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Ok the link doesn't work, so I am a little confused? Disney cutting loose strings? Is it possible that the end of the Xenanort Saga could also mean the end of Disney being involved in future KH titles?

http://forums.khinsider.com/video-games/174224-disney-shuts-down-lucasarts.html

Disney has been downsizing and shutting down studios they own. I'm just saying that Disney is being really unpredictable and anything can happen.

 

[vlaxmadero]

Well LucasArts getting shutdown doesn't seem like it would be effecting the KH series in my mind. Though I have always wondered if the KH series would one day be able to leave Disney behind (eventually all the movies/lands will be used) and travel new worlds (Next saga perhaps?). Maybe some Sora/Mario action? Haha King Mario from Nintendoland? Now the "mushroom kingdom key" sounds like a good idea right there..

 

[Zettaflare]

If disney is downsizing studios, then what does that mean for the kh series

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

If disney is downsizing studios, then what does that mean for the kh series

Nothing. It means nothing. The series makes them money, the game is fully developed and mostly funded by SE so Disney isn't putting much money into it. I'm saying that in the future there may be a chance we don't see anymore KH because in the end it is still partially Disney's game with Disney properties and if Disney decides to call it quits they will.

Disney did say they plan to concentrate on licensing titles so KH may continue forever as well.

 

[Claire-Farron]

I wasn't scared until I started reading everyone else's comments. I hope nothing too drastic happens.

 

[skyfoxx]

For quite a long time, it wasn't that hard to explain. Sure, it would be a rather wordy explanation, but not a difficult one to make. But by the time coded and Birth by Sleep came out, I noticed that it was becoming trickier. For example, I could say to someone new to the series: "Yeah, so Roxas is Sora's Nobody that was made when Sora sacrificed his heart in KH1, but Roxas has a heart because of a guy named Ventus that hid his heart inside Sora when Sora was just a boy." That's a bit complicated, and that's only explaining Roxas himself. Now imagine having to explain both why Sora sacrificed his Heart in the first place, then Ventus and his ordeal with Vanitas, and that's just focusing in on two of the 'Sora Clones'.

Do you really go around telling people a summary of the whole series? o_0
Dude, I never do that when introducing people to ANY series. I just give them a simple introduction to the story in the first game/movie/book/etc. Which is very simple.
"There's these three kids that live on this island named Sora, Riku, and Kairi. They have dreamt of going to other worlds and have even come up with a plan to seek other worlds. But one stormy night changes all that when these monstrous creatures known as Heartless appear and Sora, Riku, and Kairi disappear from the world. You continue to play as Sora who has arrived inside a town in another world. The game continues on as you go to different Disney worlds and meeting Disney characters, all the while you are searching for your missing friends Riku and Kairi."

I really don't see the need to explain it beyond that. If someone's not interested by then, then they're not interested. Why would you even want to explain the bit about Sora stabbing himself? That's in the climax of the first game. It'd be like summarizing Star Wars and cutting straight to the fact that Darth Vader is Luke's father.



Anyway, as far as this whole situation goes... I don't think anything too bad will happen. At this rate, I'm hoping this can only mean good things for Versus XIII. If it gets a release date for winter of this year for Japan, then we're golden.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I wasn't scared until I started reading everyone else's comments. I hope nothing too drastic happens.

Don't be worried. KH is a big franchise and won't be killed off by SE. Disney is known for axing stuff, but KH has been going on for ten years with little intervention by Disney and I doubt they will start to care anytime soon.

 

[cloudzack117]

I would guess Kingdom Hearts would be safe considering the partnership with Disney. The thing im worried about is localization. I can live with not getting type 0 or bravly default, but if they stop localising ff and kh then that would be sad

 

[Monkey D. Rocky]

I want the next saga to have more games on TV consoles and very little portable KH games. I like to have portable KH games, but I do agree that the number of handheld games in the series is ridiculous. I'm also glad that SE is under new management. Maybe now SE will take the KH series and the FF series seriously.

 

[Sign]

I want the next saga to have more games on TV consoles and very little portable KH games. I like to have portable KH games, but I do agree that the number of handheld games in the series is ridiculous. I'm also glad that SE is under new management. Maybe now SE will take the KH series and the FF series seriously.

Just pointing out that handheld KH titles have nothing to do with them "not being taken seriously."

 

[Taochan]

I hate this quote:

"Due to the radical change of environment, I’d like to fundamentally review what works and what doesn’t work for our company, then cast all of our resources towards extending what makes us successful and thoroughly squeezing out what doesn’t."

I've been hoping for SE to start focusing on new IP's instead of relying on FF to be their sole cash cow. However, this makes it sound like they're going to do the opposite and are solely going to focus on the franchises that they can milk.