It has recently been announced that Square-Enix will lay off over 100 employees from its USA (California) offices to reorganize and consolidate its game development operations, primarily in Japan. The reason for this move is to streamline resources and enhance efficiency amid “broader challenges” in the video game industry, such as market shifts and cost pressures.
In a publicly available slide presentation, Square Enix further elaborates on their new goal by stating: “To strengthen development capabilities from a Group-wide perspective and to optimize resource allocation for maximizing the value generated by IPs, a further review of the development pipeline was conducted.”, further doubling down on their objective. “As a result, a decision was made to close overseas development studios and shift toward consolidating development functions in Japan.”
As of the time of this article, Square-Enix is only holding onto a few Western-developed games, including Life is Strange, Outriders, Just Cause, and the publishing of Power Wash Simulator.
The internet reacts
Over on Wario64’s X/Twitter post, many users are expressing their disapproval for company, but with mixed views of the layoffs:
I am usually very critical and understanding of layoffs. Western devs completely and totally did this to themselves. -@PlasmaWave42
in a perfect world only the ethics department got shafted by the layoffs but we are not in a perfect world -@Extravaganzazz
I feel for the people that are out of a job, but this is a good move for the brand. SE should go back to their cultural roots and close the door on contemporary Western influence. Nothing good has come of it. @armalyte303
Body type A’s and B’s bout to be standing in unemployment lines. -@SmashJT
Has Square-Enix learned their lesson?
Despite the mass layoffs from its US offices, Square-Enix isn’t planning to close its US branch completely. They’re also still dedicated to pushing DEI into their current titles, along with the fact that their company’s corporate page still lists “Diversity, equity & inclusion” right at the bottom of their “Sustainability and Social Responsibility” page.
As it stands, these US office layoffs seem to change very little regarding Square-Enix’s stance on DEI. While the push for more Japanese-developed games sounds good, we all have to remember that Square-Enix’s ethics department, which is firmly embedded in the Square-Enix Japan offices, will still be intact.
While I can only hope that Square-Enix would be willing to get rid of their ethics department and DEI altogether, the only other hope I would have for Square-Enix is a return to making classic-style RPGs like they’ve been known for. While the current Dragon Quest remasters are a step in the right direction, the alteration of visual game elements, as well as the push for gender abolition in the current Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, can be seen as a turn-off for fans of the original who are looking for true preservation of these nostalgic titles. If they could put all their efforts into making an old-school Final Fantasy game in the vein of Final Fantasy 1 to 6, featuring classic hero class types, but with active turn-based combat (such as the combat featured in Expedition 33), I guarantee that it would sell like crazy. Some of their other titles like ““The Adventures of Elliot” could also be a huge benefit for Square-Enix, as the Zelda-style gameplay managed to catch many gamers by surprise.
Time will tell if the change back to Japanese-focused game development will be enough to pull Square-Enix out from the brink, but with their other recent announcement that Square-Enix plans to go all-in on Generative AI, I would not hold my breath.
Update: John Heinecke Resigns
More employees are leaving the US Branch for Square-Enix a head of the layoffs, including John Heinecke, the Chief Publishing Officer & Head of the Western Branch of Square Enix, who has officially resigned ahead of the wave of layoffs. John Heinecke was a former Blizzard Executive who was hired at Square-Enix in late 2018 and was directly involved as the communicator between the US and the Japanese Square-Enix branch.
Twitter user “The Reunion” has laid out a detailed look into John Heinecke and his social/political stances during his time with the company, with many of his comments expressing a negative view on Donald Trump and conservatives in general.
This announcement is honestly quiet shocking, and slightly changes my opinion on the state of Square-Enix’s future. If less influential people like this are now leaving the company voluntarily, then this could possibly give the Square-Enix a real chance without some unhinged individuals whispering into the ears of the higher ups within Square-Enix Japan. Now just get rid of that ethics department and we’ll be heading back in the right direction.
