Square Enix is looking to build and acquire new studios despite selling several off last week.
Part of the publisher's medium-term business strategy, as revealed in its latest financial earnings report, is to "boost game development capabilities by establishing new studios, mergers and acquisitions, etc."
Square Enix sold Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal to Embracer Group for $300 million last week in a deal which included several IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and more.
Though it seems unusual that Square Enix would shed a number of studios and IPs and immediately pursue others, it defines a goal in its report as "reshaping [its] digital entertainment portfolio".
It's under this objective that Square Enix plans to establish and acquire more studios, alongside the more general desire to "cultivate robust IP (including [the] creation of new IP)".
Purchasing game developers outright has certainly been a popular strategy in the video game industry as of late, with Microsoft leading an acquisitions race headlined by its colossal $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Both Xbox and PlayStation are hiring directors to lead their acquisition strategies and it would appear that Square Enix wants to pursue a similar route.
Sony purchased Bungie in February for $3.6 billion and in the last year has also acquired several other studios including Bluepoint and Housemarque. It has no intentions of slowing down, as Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said earlier in April that it already has more purchases planned.
Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard, on the other hand, will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Continue reading...
Part of the publisher's medium-term business strategy, as revealed in its latest financial earnings report, is to "boost game development capabilities by establishing new studios, mergers and acquisitions, etc."
Square Enix sold Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal to Embracer Group for $300 million last week in a deal which included several IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and more.
Though it seems unusual that Square Enix would shed a number of studios and IPs and immediately pursue others, it defines a goal in its report as "reshaping [its] digital entertainment portfolio".
It's under this objective that Square Enix plans to establish and acquire more studios, alongside the more general desire to "cultivate robust IP (including [the] creation of new IP)".
Purchasing game developers outright has certainly been a popular strategy in the video game industry as of late, with Microsoft leading an acquisitions race headlined by its colossal $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Both Xbox and PlayStation are hiring directors to lead their acquisition strategies and it would appear that Square Enix wants to pursue a similar route.
Sony purchased Bungie in February for $3.6 billion and in the last year has also acquired several other studios including Bluepoint and Housemarque. It has no intentions of slowing down, as Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said earlier in April that it already has more purchases planned.
Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard, on the other hand, will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Continue reading...