Yosuke Matsuda: Last News

Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda shared that the money raised by selling many of its western properties last year will be used to “foster solid IP” rather than invest in NFTs and blockchain technology.Back in May, Square Enix announced a deal with Embracer Group to sell some of the company’s biggest western titles, including Tomb Raider, Deux Ex, and Thief. Several studios – including Crystal Dynamics – were also included in the sale.At the time the company shared that the sales would help invest in “blockchain, AI, and the cloud“, however, Square Enix has seemingly decided against this.In a financial results briefing, Matsuda shared that “rather than using the proceeds from the divestiture in new investment domains such as NFT and blockchain, we intend to use them primarily to fund our efforts to foster solid IP and to enhance our development capabilities in our core digital entertainment segment.”Matsuda added that Square Enix will raise funds for “new investment domains” separately from the company’s “core business” to do so, and revealed that “the Just Cause franchise will remain our IP, and we are at work developing a new title in the franchise.”Over the last year, Matsuda has been a vocal supporter of blockchain technology, despite criticism from fans.

Square Enix has revealed that its recent AAA title, Forspoken, has underperformed financially since its release in January.In a financial presentation, Square Enix revealed that while reviews for the game “have been challenging”, it has also received “positive feedback on its action features”, highlighting its parkour and combat mechanics. “That said, its sales have been lackluster,” Yosuke Matsuda said as part of his presentation.Matsuda added: “While the performance of new titles with February and March release dates will be the ultimate determinant, we see considerable downside risk to our FY2023/3 earnings.”He continued, telling investors: “Last year, I stated that we were designating FY2023/3 as a year in which to lay the foundations that will enable us to achieve our medium-term objectives, but that we nonetheless intended to pursue YoY growth in sales and profits.