MOVERS AND SHAKERS Job news and big moves - turn to p14
WADA ON… THE FOURTH MARKET
“We will establish a foundation in Asia this year and the next. We want to make inroads, particularly in China, and will establish partnerships with local companies. We are in a strong passage of progress, so I am feeling quite comfortable about this plan.”
ROGERS ON… WORLDWIDE PARTNERSHIPS
goal. The industry’s foundation is transforming, but Square Enix is not necessarily shifting away from the current console path to what we are seeing as social gaming.” It’s a deliberately unambiguous claim from the man who was predicting the extinction of physical media the last time MCVcaught up with him. Clearly he has new reasons to believe in bricks and mortar with the likes of Kane & Lynch 2and Just Cause 2both hitting the top spot in the UK charts. “We have dozens of IPs, some of which we wish to build into franchises. Deus Ex 3, for example, is something we are trying to revive,” Wada says. “We want to keep on producing profit from that IP for the next ten years.” And Final Fantasy? The 13th instalment sold one million units on its first day in Japan, and went on to shift over 1.8 million units in North America and another 1.8 million in Europe. Yet some reports suggested hesitance within Square Enix on the future of the franchise. “Final Fantasyhas always been a bread-earner for us,” says Wada. “It has always been profitable. Of course, we would like to be expanding on those two key IPs [Final Fantasyand Deus Ex], and
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others that are very strong to us. We would like Final Fantasyto continue as long as there are the customers who support Final Fantasy.” Wada never suggests Final Fantasyis becoming merely a relic of the firm’s biggest past successes. The most recent sales figures tell their own story. Yet it is becoming clear that for Square Enix to compete on the same scale as Activision, EA and even Ubisoft, the company needs more than one runaway success. It needs, as he suggests, a brand new, fresh IP that is inherently built with the world market in mind. That will be the firm’s next big X
Factormoment; bringing on stage a new franchise that will either win rapturous applause or be voted out. Wada understands the risk, but he also sees potential in capturing new markets. “We will naturally pursue active creation of new IPs,” he says. “Unfortunately, some of the IPs we have are not so strong, and perhaps if we put more attention on them our efforts would be wasted. But what we want to do is create something globally appealing. And if our teams can create something that appeals to a global audience, that will be the next step.”
“We have to encourage cross- studio collaboration. It creates a healthy intrigue, a whole new vision to work closer. The pace has started quite slowly , but for the next 12 months there will be a lot going on. We have international studio meetings to encourage this. What’s most impressive is that it doesn’t feel forced. It’s quite natural, and that’s important to get initiatives driving.”
FISCHER ON… AMERICAN MIGHT
“Square Enix [America’s] largest contribution is the revenue from our market size. Having titles from both Eidos and Square Enix brings a more balanced flow of product. I’m in the luckiest position of us three. I’m getting great Western product from Phil, and great Japanese product from Wada-san. A robust line-up.”
October 22nd 2010 39
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