Yoichi Wada’s “Japan Alliance”: Great Game Potential or Corporate Greed?

Japan has been known as a leader in several areas of technology, especially in the video game industry. But Western game developers are showing an increased level of success, enough to make Yoichi Wada, head of Square Enix, worry about the future of the Japanese video game industry. Calling for an alliance between Japanese game companies at the Tokyo Game Show, could Wada be looking to protect his country and its industry, or is it just plain greed?

I’m shocked that any of Japan’s game developers, especially Square Enix, see Western game developers as competition to worry about. I suppose as the world economy becomes more globalized, Japan may indeed have something to worry about. Now, I don’t know Yoichi Wada personally, but the facts have me pondering whether his motives are the concern of his country and its industry or for his own personal gain.

I don't trust anybody who hangs with guys in black armor.

First, at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Wada expressed a desire for Japan to unite all of Japan’s video game developers as one to compete with the growing competition from the Western market. But Wada doesn’t think it should all be under one company.

Wada says his “Japan alliance” would not force “everything into a single corporate brand. The ideal is a holding company under which several companies and brands can hang.”

But back in July in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Wada said, “We always consider the territory and hardware for titles, and I just want to make sure that we’re neutral about dealing with companies.”

Wada’s “alliance” is not what I’d call neutral, but he did offer a valid business point: “…in order to offer our product to the vast majority of gamers we need to deal with multiple companies and platforms.”

Second, Square didn’t buy Enix, Enix bought Square—and somehow Wada (then at Squaresoft) became president of Square Enix. I don’t know how he managed this, but I find it suspicious.

"Everything is proceeding as I have forseen."

Third, Yoichi Wada is also president of the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA), a Japanese organization that promotes the video game industry and already works to strengthen Japan’s industry. Just read their overview.

Fourth, under Wada’s alliance, companies like Tecmo and Koei would be a part of the proposed “holding company” and thus, so would their properties and characters. Meaning that Wada, on some level, could profit off the success of others, and Square Enix has tried to buy Tecmo before.

Lastly, Wada stood at E3 alongside Peter Moore and Robbie Bach and happily announced that Square Enix would be releasing RPGs for the Xbox 360 and that Square Enix would be in “full support” of the Xbox 360. Was it just a show for the cameras, is Wada having second thoughts, or is he just looking to make as much money as possible?

Competition in Japan could be completely eliminated, but Japan itself could be competing with other countries to provide games. Competition would still exist, but it just wouldn’t be the same. Could Wada be looking to do more by uniting all of Japan’s video game developers under one banner, or could he just be trying to become the emperor of Japan’s video game industry? It’s hard to say, but I think we should all keep our eyes on him.