Square Enix President Stepping Down
Wada has been at the helm of Square Enix since the company's formation nearly ten years ago. The change is cited as part of "a management reorganization," but as of yet there is no news regarding Wada's future role (if any?) in the company.
This news comes in the wake of several well-publicized frustrations (FFXIV, mobile prices/quality) and continuing financial difficulties.
Wada will be replaced by Yosuke Matsuda.
Source: Kotaku
Posted in: Square-Enix News
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Comments
| Blinge Odonata | Comment 1: 2013-03-26 22:12 |
| Does anyone feel like the gaming world and even many oldschool FF fans are circling above Squeenix like vultures, waiting for it to die? I sure as hell want them to make a full recovery, even if they continue to frustrate old schoolers. Apologies if I've already said this somewhere else.. | |
| Rangers51 | Comment 2: 2013-03-26 22:57 |
Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 26th March 2013 17:12) Does anyone feel like the gaming world and even many oldschool FF fans are circling above Squeenix like vultures, waiting for it to die? I sure as hell want them to make a full recovery, even if they continue to frustrate old schoolers. Apologies if I've already said this somewhere else.. No, you're not alone in this. I genuinely can not understand the fanbase's hatred sometimes - I mean, yeah, the XIII series is a divisive game and the company's made some questionable localization choices of late, but I feel like the company's on a good path overall. They've had some big hits through Eidos recently, and I feel like XIV:ARR and X HD will be solid wins for the company this year. It probably can't hurt for Squenix to have some fresher blood at the top after all this time, to be sure, but there was definitely some falling-on-the-sword (as opposed to what Sephroth did, amirite?) here that maybe wasn't completely justified, if you ask me. | |
| BlitzSage | Comment 3: 2013-03-27 04:23 |
| I actually just read in EGM today that two former Bioware guys have now gone to Square, and are going to be working on Final Fantasy (either XV or XVI, they're not sure). So, do you think this may be signaling a more western shift for the series, or even the company itself? | |
| Glenn Magus Harvey | Comment 4: 2013-03-27 06:46 |
| I've generally heard praise for the idea of combining WRPG and JRPG elements...but then again I've only heard anything about that said about just Mass Effect, Demon's Souls, and Dark Souls. | |
| laszlow | Comment 5: 2013-03-27 10:36 |
| I dunno about the Final Fantasy series, but the company itself definitely has gone for a more Western push in recent years. Their booth at PAX East was promoting Tomb Raider, Saints Row IV, Dead Island Riptide, and the Wii U version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution just as hard as any Japanese-made games. Hear about it on the upcoming podcast! | |
| Death Penalty | Comment 6: 2013-03-27 17:10 |
Quote (Rangers51 @ 26th March 2013 18:57) Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 26th March 2013 17:12) Does anyone feel like the gaming world and even many oldschool FF fans are circling above Squeenix like vultures, waiting for it to die? I sure as hell want them to make a full recovery, even if they continue to frustrate old schoolers. Apologies if I've already said this somewhere else.. No, you're not alone in this. I genuinely can not understand the fanbase's hatred sometimes - I mean, yeah, the XIII series is a divisive game and the company's made some questionable localization choices of late, but I feel like the company's on a good path overall. They've had some big hits through Eidos recently, and I feel like XIV:ARR and X HD will be solid wins for the company this year. It probably can't hurt for Squenix to have some fresher blood at the top after all this time, to be sure, but there was definitely some falling-on-the-sword (as opposed to what Sephroth did, amirite?) here that maybe wasn't completely justified, if you ask me. I agree with, well, all of this. Quote (BlitzSage) I actually just read in EGM today that two former Bioware guys have now gone to Square, and are going to be working on Final Fantasy (either XV or XVI, they're not sure). So, do you think this may be signaling a more western shift for the series, or even the company itself? That's very interesting. Regardless of whether we want to go so far as to say that they'd be looking for a western shift for the series, I wouldn't be surprised that they would want to bring in western ideas / thought process into the development team. It's not like they're going to lose their Japanese market anytime soon, it may well help to recover their American audience, and it'll probably lead to a more fruitful discussion within the company. | |
| Glenn Magus Harvey | Comment 7: 2013-03-27 19:52 |
| But in the 90s the markets for Square products in Japan and the U.S. were roughly the same. Both markets were responding well to the then-latest Final Fantasy games. The tack now seems to be developing western RPGs for the western audience, drawing from western franchises, and hoping that the old FF fans in the west don't complain too badly about the way the flagship FF franchise is going. By the way, how well is FF doing in Japan these days? Is it doing much better than the tepid fan reaction it's getting in the west? | |
| Spooniest | Comment 8: 2013-03-28 02:59 |
| Famitsu gave Final Fantasy XIII a 39/40. I think they're daft. I can't abide FFXIII. | |
| BlitzSage | Comment 9: 2013-03-28 04:20 |
Quote (Death Penalty @ 27th March 2013 13:10) Quote (BlitzSage) I actually just read in EGM today that two former Bioware guys have now gone to Square, and are going to be working on Final Fantasy (either XV or XVI, they're not sure). So, do you think this may be signaling a more western shift for the series, or even the company itself? That's very interesting. Regardless of whether we want to go so far as to say that they'd be looking for a western shift for the series, I wouldn't be surprised that they would want to bring in western ideas / thought process into the development team. It's not like they're going to lose their Japanese market anytime soon, it may well help to recover their American audience, and it'll probably lead to a more fruitful discussion within the company. Yeah, and my friend's going through Mass Effect right now, and one of the first things he said is how much it was reminding him of Final Fantasy. Even though it's a WRPG, it's got a lot of JRPG elements. Either way, I'm sure that someone who works there has noticed the slip in popularity here, and doesn't want to lose that. But I think that JRPGs and Squenix have to evolve, maybe take some elements from newer franchises without taking away from what worked. These moves seem promising. | |
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©1997–2025 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)
All fanfiction and fanart (including original artwork in forum avatars) is property of the original authors. Some graphics property of Square Enix.