After selling lots of its non-Final Fantasy IP, Square Enix doesn't want to rely on Final Fantasy as much
As if we needed any more proof that PowerWash Sim can change your outlook on life.
You know those JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest that Square Enix is pretty well-known for making, especially since it sold off a whole bunch of its other IPs and the studios that work on them? Well, the publisher doesn’t want to have to rely on them as much going forwards.
It’s an idea that makes plenty of sense in a vacuum, but seems a little bit hilarious given the whole ditching of the likes of Tomb Raider and Deus Ex that Square executed in May 2022, when it sold Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group. But, hey, there are other games out there that the publisher could use to help expand its repertoire.
This desire to become less dependent on the existing big series Square Enix has at its disposal was outlined by company president Takashi Kiryu in the Q and A section of a November 2023 financial briefing that was only published recently (thanks, GamesRadar). In it, Kiryu (not that one) cites two areas in which he believes Square “to be lacking”, with the first of these being “the limited diversity of our title portfolio”.
“Because we possess strong IPs like the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy franchises, I believe that we have tended to be overly reliant on certain gameplay styles or genres,” the president said. “Meanwhile, the tastes of customers in the gaming market have diversified, and customers have come to enjoy content from a variety of genres.”
So, what is it that’s caused Kiryu to take notice of the untapped potential that can lie in devoting more attention to non-blockbuster titles. It’s FuturLab’s PowerWash Simulator, because of course it is.
According to the president, PowerWash Sim “is somewhat of an outlier in our portfolio in that it is a game well suited for casual play, but we have been able to steadily build up our earnings from it.”
So, with that in mind, he wants to “increase our development proficiency by strengthening our internal development capabilities, so that we are able to achieve greater diversity in our title portfolio.” That sounds like it could potentially be hinting at Square itself having a go at developing more games that might not fit its typical MO, but have the chance to pop off like the third-party cleaning experience has.
While this might still feel a bit weird after Square seemingly gave up on several established earners - even if it did provide some justification for making that move - with that Embracer deal, it’s at least preferable to the publisher putting more investment into NFT and/or metaverse-themed games/platforms that may or may not contain Snoop Dogg.
In other recent Final Fantasy-related news, FF 14 and 16 producer Naoki Yoshida thinks a younger team should potentially take the lead on Final Fantasy 17’s development.