President Takashi Kiryu has shared his plans to slim down Square Enix's lineup of titles.
02.01.2024 - 15:14 / wccftech.com / Takashi Kiryu / Ai / Will
As customary every January 1st, the new president of Square Enix posted a public New Year's letter on the Japanese game publisher's website.
Takashi Kiryu, who replaced Yosuke Matsuda in June 2023, clearly showed a change in direction from his predecessor. Whereas Matsuda spoke for two years in a row about the importance blockchain would have for the future of gaming, Kiryu-san focused more on the impact of AI, specifically generative AI. Square Enix will apply it aggressively to both marketing efforts and game development to create new forms of content.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential implications had for some time largely been subjects of academic debate. However, the introduction of ChatGPT, which allows anyone to easily produce writing or translations or to engage in text-based dialogue, sparked the rapid spread of generative AIs. Its release made it apparent that the applicability of generative AI was by no means limited to text, and the subsequent months saw a quick succession of launches of new services and content that expanded generative AI into a variety of domains with close ties to digital entertainment, including images, video, and music. I believe that generative AI has the potential not only to reshape what we create but also to fundamentally change the processes by which we create, including programming.
[...] We also intend to be aggressive in applying AI and other cutting-edge technologies to both our content development and our publishing functions. In the short term, our goal will be to enhance our development productivity and achieve greater sophistication in our marketing efforts. In the longer term, we hope to leverage those technologies to create new forms of content for consumers, as we believe that technological innovation represents business opportunities.
That's not to say blockchain wasn't briefly mentioned as one of the three fields of investment previously identified (cloud, AI, and blockchain). Kiryu said Square Enix would modify its internal organizational structure and optimize resource allocations for these efforts, so it sounds like blockchain projects are still coming, even if AI might have overtaken blockchain when it comes to priorities.
The President and Representative Director of Square Enix also revealed that the development teams are working to standardize processes to to improve efficiency. The goal is to make products and services capable of meeting the customers' expectations 'more than ever before'.
2023 wasn't that great for the Japanese developer and publisher. Forspoken largely failed to gain any traction, and even Final Fantasy XVI sold less than hoped. However, 2024 could be far better for the publisher between the February 29 launch of
President Takashi Kiryu has shared his plans to slim down Square Enix's lineup of titles.
Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu believes the company needs to diversify its gaming output, but also focus on fewer releases.
The president of Japanese publishing giant Square Enix, Takashi Kiryu, has said he wants his company's output to be more diverse.
Square Enix recently revealed during the Xbox Developer Direct that Visions of Mana will be released for Xbox during the upcoming summer. During the event, Microsoft unveiled more information about the upcoming Indiana Jones game developed by MachineGames, and details about Avowed and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. However, the appearance of Visions of Mana was the biggest surprise of Xbox Developer Direct.
Square Enix appears to be on the verge of shaking up its development portfolio. According to its president, we may soon see fewer titles, but a more diverse array of genres coming out of a developer and publisher traditionally known for its massive RPG franchises.
Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu says he wants to diversify the studio's lineup of games by relying less on "strong IPs" like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
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Yesterday, Square Enix announced that its party shooter Foamstars would launch on February 6th for PS4 and PS5. Despite comparisons to Splatoon, it’s received praise for doing different things. Since it’s also out on day one for PlayStation Plus subscribers, it’s almost guaranteed to have a healthy player base initially.
Square Enix has confirmed that upcoming online shooter Foamstars includes AI-generated art.
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Foamstars, Square Enix's Splatoon-like 4v4 online party shooter announced last year, is coming next month. The PlayStation exclusive will release February 6 as a day-one launch title on PS Plus, Sony and Square Enix confirmed Tuesday. The game will be available to download for free on PS5 and PS4 as part of the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup for next month, starting February 6 through March 4. Foamstars was announced at a PlayStation Showcase in May last year, showing off soapy shooting and colourful characters, both heavily inspired by Nintendo's Splatoon games. A PS Plus release will likely attract more players to the multiplayer title in its early days.
Square Enix's upcoming team shooter Foamstars will have a small amount of AI art, the developer has said.