It seems to be acquisition season right now in the gaming industry. Embracer Group, the huge Swedish firm who owns the likes of THQ Nordic, recently picked up Square Enix's Western studios, and now there's talk of WB Games being up for sale too. However, business regarding Square Enix might not be wrapped up just yet.
VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb has taken to the airwaves, as per usual, to chime in on the Square Enix deal. The journalist says that Square Enix now looks "far more streamlined for potential acquisition" and that said acquisition is "more likely today than yesterday".
However, Grubb himself seemingly doesn't want fans to get ahead of themselves. Grubb went on to say that he can't really report on acquisitions with any certainty, partly due to the legal implications involved. He also stresses that these sorts of deals change all the time.
As for who could potentially pick up the remains of Square Enix, it's tough to say. Grubb himself has said that Sony acquiring them was "the big rumour", but we also know Xbox is interested in expanding its presence in Japan. We'll have to wait and see what happens next with Square Enix, if anything at all.
Do you expect Xbox to pick up a Japanese company sometime soon? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 13
Just him taking guesses again so it's not really news, also square have just stated they sold their western studios to get some money to focus on blockchain....
Also seeing as the Nintendo and playstation are the market leaders in Japan and xbox has less than 5% market share there then it doesn't make sense for Microsoft to get a big japanese developer as they wouldn't make profit by keeping their games exclusive
I hope Take two, EA and embracee group keep their hands off them as well, I can't see a western company running a japanese developer well and making great JRPG's
Nah, SE is going to go full Konami.
Not sure why Xbox is mentioned here. They cant buy anything big with Activision still in the works and not sure a company would sell the company to the smallest playerbase platform of PS, Switch, PC, and Xbox for the genre
Actually Jeff clarified on Twitter and said he didn’t mean to suggest there was an acquisition on the horizon just that it was more likely.
Really hope if one happens, it's not Sony or MS. Honestly, I'd rather they just stay as they are now.
@Rmg0731 as the group selling square (investors/stock holders) won't care the slightest of who buys them out. It would be the highest bidder wins.
I think it's about as likely as when SEGA sold off it's arcade business.
It doesn't mean they are prepping to be sold, just they are selling off part of the business they deem unprofitable in order to balance the books.
It also makes little sense for Sony to buy up Square Enix, as they already have timed exclusive deals for the most appealing games anyway.
The real question is...
..will this affect Babylon's fall?
If Square gets sold, I hope it's to Nintendo. As much as I love my Xbox, we don't need a megacorp pushing their western "progressive" values on a Japanese developer. Sony would be just as bad as Microsoft, or worse, in that regard. Keep Square untainted.
I mean, SE is going to Sony, right? The two companies are already super tight. Sony gets SE exclusives, anyway. Lots of rumors that Sony is about to acquire someone big. And, SE dumping off its western studios. It all seems to point to them getting ready for a Sony acquisition.
I’ve heard that at some point someone will make an acquisition…I know because my uncles brothers son knows about these things…
I’ll be sure to tell you I’m right when Sony buy square or Ubisoft - I haven’t decided which yet. Maybe Fromsoftware… remember I said fromsoftware too. Oh and Platinum…just in case.
This guy spouts whatever comes into his mind.
Sure, S-E is more likely for an acquisition than ever, but they also stated their intent to move farther away from video games than ever and invest in fintech and other business. Seems like they're diversifying and any acquisition could be, and would be more likely to come from a non-video games company. A bank, a tech firm, a hedge fund, an industrial group, etc.
MS isn't off the table since they want to get a foothold in Japanese content. Sony's the perpetual rumor, but Sony doesn't seem interested in Japanese content. The goal isn't reaching Japan's gaming market which is all mobile except for Nintendo (which is just the Nintendo market and detached from the rest of the industry there), Square barely buys Sony anything they don't already have, and that's not much of a thing they particularly want. I still think the lack of the big Western IPs would dilute Sony's interest in them. They love FF exclusivity, but that's practically all they care about from the Japanese wing. MS wants a Japanese footprint, and did nearly buy Square once before, so that should never be ruled out. But I still don't think they'll make a move for it.
Tencent is always an option. Cementing a bigger monopoly on Asia's mobile gaming scene is right in their wheelhouse. I still think any acquisition would come from outside gaming at this point, and Square joins Konami in really ignoring their old gaming business.
@UltimateOtaku91 you can bet if MS finds them willing and legal finds it viable, they would acquire Square Enix in a heartbeat. They can always keep most games also on PlayStation but having every Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest on GamePass would perfectly align with their desire to expand their PC|XBox|Streaming reach into the region.
What you will never see is a hostile takeover attempt.
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