Yoichi Wada resigns as Square Enix CEO

[The NZA]

square posted some bad #'s today, then:

 

NOTICE OF CHANGE IN REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTORS

 

SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO.,LTD. (the “Company”) expects that the Company’s representative directors will change. Such change is subject to a resolution by its 33rd annual general meeting of shareholders to be held in late June, 2013, and a resolution by its board of directors meeting to be held after the said meeting of shareholders.

 

1. Reason for the election

Renewal of the Company’s management team

 

2. Change in the representative directors

Yosuke Matsuda

Representative Director President and Representative Director

 

 

i'm not expecting the sequel to spirits within a return to classic Squaresoft here, but Wada's reign was almost the complete opposite of the classic Suzuki/Sakaguchi era, can't help but hope this is a step in the right direction.

 

I mean, they spent all that money acquiring Eidos, Taito, etc post Enix merger, but the talent drain left us with management that can't get things out the door, and Toriyama wanting more Lighting games. so long as they don't go IOS only, this has to be an improvement.

[Visitant]

I mean, they spent all that money acquiring Eidos, Taito, etc post Enix merger,

 

We can't forget the steaming pile of shit that was Final Fantasy 14...that they are about to RE-RELEASE. Square has been in dire straits for some time now and to be honest their acquiring of Eidos was one of their better moves in a sea of final fantasy 13s and 14s.

 

Like I said on the show, I called what was going to happen to Versus. Square has very little wiggle room in the hearts of the fanbase. Maybe they could get their shit together to win the fans HEARTS back. Maybe with a game about HEARTS or a decent fucking Final Fantasy.

[The NZA]

im not a KH fan but i know it moves units. honestly amongst studios that took a nosedive this last gen, i think square could win their fans back the easiest, folks still want to love them...but you might have to get Toriyama to stop making Lightning games.

 

@ 14's re-release...tricky, isn't it? part of me might think like you & say just let it go/keep it up like XI for the meager fanbase you built, but they gotta be thinking they lost too much to not try again. on the other hand, Mark Cerny had an excellent GDC speech years back on the importance of not doubling down on $/resources - "you've lost 10 mil, and that stings. losing another 20-30 won't fix it." (paraphrased)

[Visitant]

As far as FFXI goes as someone who was part of that community for a long time, that game was, and still is successful. It's not WOW but it got a very strong fanbase and just received a new expansion and much like WOW i've heard a ton of people who haven't played since the last one saying that they were coming back just to play it. (I am not one of these people). FFXI was their MMO done right. When 14 was announced, all the fans wanted was XI 2.0. Bigger brighter, etc.The lead from 14 has bowed out gracefully and the head from 11 has taken over if that shows the direction they are going in.

 

HOWEVER, like you said...at the end of the day they are trying to double down on this and it could kill them.

 

Square does have a loyal following, mostly because its fans were raised with their game. For every generation like mine who took their first important RPG steps in Cornelia, many more took theirs in Traverse Town or Midgar. The Square name has power and has a way to wrap us in this blanket of nostalgia that many other companies fail to do. Their fans at times are in love with the company as the worlds they create. Why do you think we keep buying the same damn games over and over from them?

 

tl:dr - Now is the time for Square to get their fans back. They need to approach this generation the same way they did with Final Fantasy 1. This could be the end if they don't get it right.

[Keth]

I wish they would put that Ito cat back on a game.