ENIX MERGES WITH SQUARE!?!?!? WTF!?
- Thread starter Logan Leonhart
- Start date
It's a collaborative merger not a buyout... Besides back when M$ was waving around money at Square, Miyamoto (the founder) didn't want to sell his shares, and the movie hadn't flopped yet...
Yes, making RPG's even if with extensive code reuse isn't cheap. After all, Square's also in a partnership with EA with Square/EA to leverage EA's distribution and publishings assets.
Enix and Square (and Namco to a lesser degree) have had a pretty long, close relationship. This makes it easier to share resources to reduce development costs. Remember they already owned a 5% stake in eachother (and with Namco) as part of the PlayOnline deal (so this also means that Square Enix owns 10% of Namco as well). I'm a little curious to what direction Game Arts will go in now, considering how cozy they've been getting with Enix (Enix owns roughly 15% of them)... I also wonder how this affects Digicube though (of which Capcom is also a parter in)...
Unlikely... For one, Sony has little control over Square (however none of the involved studios are huge multi-platform studios, and going multi-platform would be ridiculously costly especially when they're trying to reduce costs). Secondly, both Square and Enix have pretty tight development teams, you don't want to break up development crews and destroy what operating synergy they have. Most of any restructuring will likely involve corporate infrastructure (e.g. accounting, sales, stuff like that). Enix (and perhaps GameArts) will for instance gain the benefit of Square's CGI facilities (instead of farming out to Gonzo)...
There isn't now nor has there been (other than FF obligations)...
archie4oz
But if MS did buy Square, then what would the outcome have been? Most likely, as a MS road rep has argued in a teambox forum, the devs would have left and MS would be only left with company assets (trademarks).
http://forums.teamxbox.com/showthre...666ea3885253affb29&postid=1739090#post1739090
But if MS did buy Square, then what would the outcome have been? Most likely, as a MS road rep has argued in a teambox forum, the devs would have left and MS would be only left with company assets (trademarks).
http://forums.teamxbox.com/showthre...666ea3885253affb29&postid=1739090#post1739090
bbot:
If Microsoft had acquired Square, it's certainly conceivable that some of their top producers and designers would leave the company if they were unhappy about it. I highly doubt their would be any mass exodus, though, as Microsoft wouldn't agree to make the acquisition if their was a chance the company could be losing some of its valuable personnel resources. MS would check with the producers to make sure they were OK with it, and it would probably be in the contract for certain management and creative structures to stay in place for a few years after the acquisition.
Finally, the prospect of a gaming company being bought out by a company like Microsoft brings a lot of job security to the employees in a time when their company might have been struggling financially or in business. Don't think that the acquired Square employees in our hypoethetical scenario would all just up and leave in disgust and protest by being purchased by the evil, western-giant Microsoft. These Square employees need to make a living, support a family, put food on the table, etc. While it might be nice to think they could all be that cavalier, defiant, and reckless with their future career decisions, the reality of the situation is that their need to meet expenses takes precedent over some misguided sense of patriotism and dignity. While a few of the financially well-off producers could afford to leave, start new companies, or take a job at another developer, the great majority of Square's personnel aren't rich or assured enough that they could just leave their post and start at a new one without a hitch or a risk of missing a paycheck in Japan's troubled economic climate.
If this merger goes through, I believe it will signal the beginning of at least a slightly more multi-platform approach for their content. Successfully operating a large publisher has its demands (and just dismissing a potential revenue source like the GameCube, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance off hand is not prudent), and Enix being the controlling party will likely result in the use of their publishing philosophy.
Enix hasn't really needed to do much cross-platform development and publishing yet. However, that possibility becomes greater as this hardware cycle moves on and the other platforms establish themselves. Though they haven't done much cross-platform development, Enix has never really been opposed to it. Their ties with many different developers like GameArts also pulls them in broader directions as well.
I definitely think that some choice GameCube support will be annouced by this prospective merged company in the future. And of course, Game Boy Advance plans will only increase from what they already were as they really try to tap that market for all its worth.
Microsoft wouldn't likely acquire another gaming company against the wishes of that company's management, and certainly not through a hostile takeover. Third parties are not their competition, so Microsoft wouldn't be bolstering their standing in the market by throwing their weight around and pushing these partners of theirs about. They'll try to entice third parties with excessively lucrative deals, but their game of hard ball will likely be saved for their direct competition - Sony and Nintendo.
If Microsoft had acquired Square, it's certainly conceivable that some of their top producers and designers would leave the company if they were unhappy about it. I highly doubt their would be any mass exodus, though, as Microsoft wouldn't agree to make the acquisition if their was a chance the company could be losing some of its valuable personnel resources. MS would check with the producers to make sure they were OK with it, and it would probably be in the contract for certain management and creative structures to stay in place for a few years after the acquisition.
Finally, the prospect of a gaming company being bought out by a company like Microsoft brings a lot of job security to the employees in a time when their company might have been struggling financially or in business. Don't think that the acquired Square employees in our hypoethetical scenario would all just up and leave in disgust and protest by being purchased by the evil, western-giant Microsoft. These Square employees need to make a living, support a family, put food on the table, etc. While it might be nice to think they could all be that cavalier, defiant, and reckless with their future career decisions, the reality of the situation is that their need to meet expenses takes precedent over some misguided sense of patriotism and dignity. While a few of the financially well-off producers could afford to leave, start new companies, or take a job at another developer, the great majority of Square's personnel aren't rich or assured enough that they could just leave their post and start at a new one without a hitch or a risk of missing a paycheck in Japan's troubled economic climate.
If this merger goes through, I believe it will signal the beginning of at least a slightly more multi-platform approach for their content. Successfully operating a large publisher has its demands (and just dismissing a potential revenue source like the GameCube, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance off hand is not prudent), and Enix being the controlling party will likely result in the use of their publishing philosophy.
Enix hasn't really needed to do much cross-platform development and publishing yet. However, that possibility becomes greater as this hardware cycle moves on and the other platforms establish themselves. Though they haven't done much cross-platform development, Enix has never really been opposed to it. Their ties with many different developers like GameArts also pulls them in broader directions as well.
I definitely think that some choice GameCube support will be annouced by this prospective merged company in the future. And of course, Game Boy Advance plans will only increase from what they already were as they really try to tap that market for all its worth.
RaolinDarksbane
Newcomer
Kinda interesting that two people from Enix is going to fill in job of the CEO and VP of the new company, couple that with the fact that Sony now has 8.1 %(?)..... wouldn't that loosing the grip that Sony has on Square(or the new company).
RaolinDarksbane said:
Um, think the status quo will remain just that.
Archie already said Square's descision to produce for who they did in the past is for monetary reasons. And even if their is political motivation, I think the 'motivation' is a little deeper than xx% of share ownership.
Tagrineth said:Shiggy?
Haha
Steve Dave Part Deux
Newcomer
I think it's safe to say that Yamauchi was courting Enix just as vigorously as he was Square prior to his retirement. I would be suprised not to see the next DQ on GCN, after all, PS2 already got dungeon battle. I imagine that if the next incarnation of the DQ franchise does appear on the Cube, that it will be the first game to require the use of the GBA-GCN linkup.
Depends on the studio... At the time of Microsoft's nosing around, I'd say not really, especially with the movie in production (in partnership with Sony).
Actually it's been pretty easy. The gaming industry is one of the few areas where there's still a lot of job opportunities. Artists make up the bulk of the critical personel and having Square on your resume goes quite far not only in the gaming industy but also with animation studios and manga publishers...
Probably not this generation of hardware (perhaps next gen). It costs too much and takes too long to ramp up production pipelines for other platforms if you're not already geared for it... Besides you to evaluate whether or not the ROI will be high enough as well...
It's always a possibility. Right now though the AGB and PS2 are offering the best ROI. Besides by the time I left most of the senior and junior staff who were really enthusiastic GCN development had already left for Fund Q backed operations... Dunno about Enix personel though.
As an individual company yeah, but most of the infrastructure will remain intact. At least until 2005...
Masafumi (no relation to Shigeru)...
Haven't paid much attention to the rest of the world, but in Japan Kingdom Hearts sold over 800K copies , The Bouncer did around 375K, Gekikuukan sold over 500K, All Star Wrestling II did around 130K (right about where FFXI is now)...
As for Enix, other than delays with Star Ocean 3, has been doing fine...
RaolinDarksbane
Newcomer
Good god the viral marketer has invaded the forum!!!
Anyway, back to the topic(even though it's slighter off).... how do you explain GDS?? With two people from Enix taking the top positions for the new company, what's the use for GDS??
Anyway, back to the topic(even though it's slighter off).... how do you explain GDS?? With two people from Enix taking the top positions for the new company, what's the use for GDS??
marconelly!
Veteran
So you like Enix and Square games and you don't have and don't like PS2? Well, sucks to be you
Square Pictures was disbanded (lots of US and European artists were there), however I think that Squaresoft's CGI department was not involved. Many artists have left that place a few years ago, to work on the Final Fantasy movie though - Square had to outsource a good amount of FMVs for FFX.
