Square Enix: Room for One More

Japanese juggernaut Square Enix, known for their blockbuster Dragon Warrior series, and other less popular offerings (*cough* Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger) says it’s time for a change. Square Enix President Yoichi Wada told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit last week that his company is facing increased competition from non-Japanese game makers, and that *gasp* North America is now a viable market.

As he puts it, “We need to go beyond traditional Square Enix.” His solution is one that has become the common move as of late in the industry, i.e., consolidation. Square Enix itself was created by a merger in 2003, and the industry shaking Activision-Vivendi merger of late last year shows the trend is far from dead.

And Squeenix is putting some serious money down to back up its words. The company has already issued an additional 290 million shares of its Tokyo stock—or about 9.2 billion dollars for us non-Wall Street types. It’s a big commitment for Japan’s RPG Guru, and they seem to be taking the challenge seriously. While Wada did not expressly mention any names, there are a few good opportunities out there for Squeenix to pursue. Companies like Level – 5 of Professor Layton fame, or NIS with its Disgaea series, would be great fits, filling gaps and reinforcing current strengths for the company.

This author would also not be surprised if Squeenix went after a North American company or two, as the increasing success of casual games has made almost every game producer reconsider the kinds of games they’re pumping out. Another EA and Square Enix? Probably not, but changes are most definitely in the air.