After acquiring Bungie earlier this year, Eidos Montreal founder, Stephane D’Astous, claims that the tech giant is preparing to buy Square Enix. Here’s an excerpt of what D’Astous shared in a GamesIndustry.biz interview: In the same interview, D’Astous revealed that the earlier sale of Square Enix’s foreign studios to Embracer Group was due to mounting sales expectations. D’Astous described the situation as a “train wreck in slow motion,” adding that the “train was not going in a good direction.” Having said that, Square Enix is synonymous with Sony’s PlayStation brand. The majority of the company’s biggest and most iconic games launched exclusively on a Sony platform. Even if they didn’t, most people associate Square Enix’s games with PlayStation anyway. So, it would make sense for Sony to acquire one of its longest collaborators in the industry. But, what’s interesting is Sony’s interest in Square Enix Tokyo. In case you haven’t kept up with the latest news, Sony restructured its “Business Divisions” in 2020 into four units. Assuming that D’Astous was referring to Creative Business Unit I, this would mean that Sony is only interested in buying the part of Square Enix that works on all the mainline Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games. This is a wise business decision on Sony’s part, but we doubt Square Enix will sell its most profitable division just like that. Most likely, Square Enix wants Sony to purchase the entire organization as opposed to just a slice of the pie. Negotiations between two organizations like this can take a long time. The two parties might be at a standstill as we speak. If it’s true that Sony only wants Creative Business Unit I, Square Enix will have to weigh out the options and consider if it can survive losing the creative minds behind Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Otherwise, Square Enix could say no to the deal, although that would mean that the company just sold off its foreign subsidiaries for next to nothing for no reason. Whether Sony acquires Square Enix or not, the legendary JRPG company has a bright future ahead. Square Enix is poised to release several big games over the next two years such as FF7: Ever Crisis, the Crisis Core: FF7 remaster, FF7 Remake Rebirth, and Forspoken. On top of what we just mentioned, Square Enix is believed to be working on releasing its iconic titles on modern platforms.
